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THE 



SPANISH 



OF 



N EW MEXICO, 



BY 



W. W. H. DAVIS, A. 



rE.MBEE OF THE " HISTOKIOAL BOOIBTY OF PENNSYLVANIA," AND THE " NEW 

YOBK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGEAPHIOAL 800IETT ;" ATTTnOR OF " EL 

GEINGO, OE NEW MEXICO AND HEK PEOPLE ;" " HI8T0EY OF THE 

ONE HUNDEBD AND FOUBTH PENNSYLVANIA EEGIMENT ;" 

"HISTOEY OP THE HAKT FAJITLY," AND " THE 

LIFE OF GEHEEAL JOHN LASET," 



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V 



dOylestown, pa 
1 :^. ■' ' . 



Sntoed, according to Act of Congr^s, in the year 1S69, 

By W. TT. H. DAVIS, 

In the Clerk's QflSceof the District Conn of the United States, in and for thf 

Eastern District ol Pennsylvania. 



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^tHitulxtin. 



13 RE3PJECTFCXLY DEDICATED TO 

JOHN O. JAMES, OF PHILADELPHIA. 

TO TESTIPT THE 

RESPECT ENTERTAINED FOR HIS PERSON 

AND CHARACTER, 

AND TO MARK 

THE AUTHORS APPRECIATION OP HIS UNYARYING 
FRIENDSHIP. 



PREFACE. 



The conquest of that portion of the North American 
continent lately the province, now the territory, of ISew 
Mexico, and which the United States acquired from 
Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, is ai;, 
unpublished page in Spanish-American history. The. 
historian has overlooked this field of early adventure 
and given his attention to what seemed a more inviting- 
banquet, thus depriving the world of one of the most 
interesting relations of incidents to be met \vith in the 
record of early explorations in the New World. The 
earliest mention of Spaniards penetrating into New ]5iIexico 
is found in the journal of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 
written in the first half of the sixteenth century. He was 
an officer of the unfortunate expedition of Narvaez, and 
with three companions was wandering nearly ten years 
across the continent, at the end of which time he reached 
the Spanish settlements on the gulf of California. Al- 
though Vaca and his companions had no part in the 
conquest of New Mexico, they were its first explorers, 
and the information they gave of it directed the Spaniards 



VI PEEFACE. 

thither. For these reasons the work would not be com- 
plete without their adventures. 

In presenting tliis work to the public, a sense of duty, 
to them and myself, suggests that I state the circum- 
stances under which it was written. I went to New 
Mexico, in 1853, to fill an official station under the general 
government. Soon after my arrival I made inquiries;, of 
those with whom I came in contact, about the history of 
the country ; but I scarcely met an individual who could 
give me any reliable information, nor were books on the 
subject to be had. Beheving that the struggle, which 
resulted in the Spaniards wresting the country from the 
possession of the partially civilized people they found 
there, would present a deeply interesting narrative, I 
turned my attention to collecting materials to supply the 
want of knowledge on tlie suljject. I did this simply for 
my personal information, without any thought or inten- 
tion of writing a history. But the more time I devoted 
to the labor, the more interested I became in it ; and as 
months and years wore away, and new and unpublished 
material accumulated on my hands, I concluded to present 
the result of my researches to the public. Difficulties 
presented themselves at neai-ly every step, and but for the 
assistance of kind friends the work had never been com- 
pleted. Many of the authorities consulted were in the 
original Spanish, and had lain undisturbed, in musty 
bundles, for two centm^ies. They were written in the 
quaint style of that period and were difficult to decipher. 



PEEFACE. o vn 

Tlie events treated in tliis volume run through a period 
of one hundred and seventy-six years — from 1527 to 1703, 
and embrace, among others, the following interesting 
relations, viz : — 

1. The wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca and three com- 
panions through portions of New Mexico, as early as 
1530-38, from a journal written by himself soon after his 
retm'n to Spain. 

2. The explorations of friar Marcos de Niza, in 1539, 
in search of Cibola or the country of the Seven Cities. 

3. The expedition of Francisco Vasquez Coronado, 
in 1541-43, to subjugate New Mexico to the crown of 
Spain. 

4. The adventures of friar Augustin B,uiz, who entered 
the country as a missionary, in 1581. 

5. The expechtion of Antonio de Espejo, in search of 
friar Ruiz, in 1582. 

6. Accoimt of Juan de Ouate's colonizing the country 
in 1591, and the attempts the Indians made in the next 
ninety years to throw off the Spanish yoke. 

7. A full account of the great Indian rebellion of 1680, 
and the contest to re-establish Spanish power. 

Besides these authorities, I consulted fragments of MSS., 
journals of other early explorers and adventurers who 
were mainly attracted thither by their thirst for gold, as 
well as all other sources of information I had access to. 
The work of Padre Frejes on the conquest of the coun- 
try, published in Mexico in 1830, and De Larenaudiere's 



VHl PEEFACE. 

History of Mexico afforded me some information I could 
obtain nowhere else. 

The last seventeen chapters were mainly written from 
the Spanish records in the secretary's office at Santa Fe, 
and which had never before been translated. These old 
manuscripts are complete, and their genuineness is un- 
doubted. Their contents include an account of the great 
Indian rebelhon of 1680, and the subsequent efforts of 
the Spaniards to reconquer and hold the country. I had 
great difficult}^ in obtaining the journal of Oiiate who 
estal)lished the first permanent settlements in New Mexico ; 
and I am indebted to Major Simeon Hart, of El Paso, 
Texas, for the copy I consulted, wliich he procured from 
the city of Mexico. It had been mutilated and only em- 
l)raced a portion of his adventures, and as I was unable 
to obtain fm-ther information on the subject, the history 
of this important period is incomplete. This journal, 
entire, was formerly in the secretary's office at Santa Fe, 
l)ut since the United States obtained possession of the 
country it was stolen, and no clue has been obtained of it. 
Of the journal of Cruzate I was only able to obtain a few 
pages, and these in MS. 

The copious notes, prepared with great care, will give 
the reader information of the most important localities 
mentioned, while the outline map will enable him to fol- 
low the march of troops, and the routes of adventurers, 
^\'ith considerable accuracy. I cannot conclude this 
prefatory notice without returning thanks to Samuel 



PREFACE. IX 

Ellison, esquire, late translator in the executive office at 
Santa Fe, for his valuable assistance in translating the old 
Spanish manuscripts. 

With this preface The Spanish Conquest of New 
Mexico is submitted to the public, with the hope that it 
will be found of sufficient interest to claim an attentive 
perusal. 

W. W. H. DAVIS. 

Doylestovm, Pa.^ July Ist, 1869. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Narvaez sails for Florida and lands upon the coast IT 

CHxiPTER II. 
The army marches into the interior and takes Apalache 23 

CHAPTER III. 

ISTarvaez causes boats to be built and attempts to escape by sea. ... 3t 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Spaniards re-embark, and Vaca's boat is cast upon the shore . 37 

CHAPTER V. 

Pitiable condition of Vaca and his men, and what befel them 44 

CHAPTER VI. 
The island of Malhado, with some account of the inhabitants 50 

CHAPTER VII. 

Dorantes and Castillo attempt to escape, and what happened to 
Vaca 56 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The fate of Narvaez, and the whereabouts of the survivors (52 

CHAPTER IX. 
How Vaca and his companions escape from the Indians 68 

CHAPTER X. 
The Spaniards continue their journey, and the people they met. ... 74 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Some account of the manners and customs of various tribes 80 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Spaniards again resume their journey and what they saw 87 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Vaca and companions arrive among a people of fixed habitations. 94 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Spaniards reach the settlements of New Spain, and thence go 
to the city of Mexico ; 103 

CHAPTER XV. 

The earliest information of New Mexico, and the first attempt to 
explore it 110 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Priar Niza sets out for Cibola accompanied by one of Vaca's com- 
panions 114 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Niza continues his journey, and hears of the death of Stephen 124 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
What happened to Stephen at Cibola ; Niza returns to New Spain. 133 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The friar relates his discoveries to Coronado; a Spanish army 
marches for Cibola 141 

CHAPTER XX. 

The army enters Culiacan; Coronado marches in advance to 
Cibola 149 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The pamj' reaches Cibola ; expedition of Dias to the coast 158 

CHAPTER XXII. 
A further account of Cibola ; an expedition marches to the prov- 
ince of Tusayan, and the river Tizon ICG 



CONTENTS, Xliil 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Alvarado marcbes to Cicuye, and the army goes into "winter 
quarters at Tiguex 17G 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Description of Tiguex ; the Indians revolt against the Spaniards 
but are conquered , 185 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The siege and capture of Tiguex ; Coronado marches to Cicuye. . 193 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The army leaves Tiguex and marches out upon the plains 20^; 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Coronado marches to Quivira ; some account of the plain Indians 211 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
An account of the provinces the Spaniards visited ; the army re- 
tm-ns to Tiguex 221 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Coronado meets with an accident, and the army returns to Mexico. 228 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Augustin Ruiz and two friars enter New Mexico as missionaries, 
and are put to death by the Indians , , 234 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Antonio de Espejo undertakes an expedition to rescue the two 
friars 240 

CHAPTER XXXH. 

Espejo marches up the valley of the Rio del Norte ; some account 
of the provinces he passed through 247 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
The Spaniards visit several new provinces and then return to New 
Biscay 2.v,% 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Juau de Oiiate enters New Mexico with a party of colonists 



'XW CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Onate visits Quivh'a, and what took place there ; Fiiar Salmeron. 2'1 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The Indians become discontented under Spanish rule, and make 
several attempts at rebellion 2TJ 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
The Indians rise in rebellion against the Spanish authorities. 287 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

The Indians besiege Santa Pe, and compel the Spaniards to evacu- 
ate the town 2D4 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
What took place after the Spaniards were driven from the country. 301 

CHAPTER XL. 

Governor Otermin marches for the re-conquest of New Mexico. ... 307 

CHAPTER XLI. 
The army reaches the pueblo of Isleta which is taken with slight 
resistance 31 1 

CHAPTER XLII. 

The Spaniards continue their march up the river, and the condi- 
tion in which the pueblos were found 320 

CHAPTER XLin, 

Mendoza makes a reconnoissance up the river to Cochiti and what 
took place there; the ai-my returns to El Paso 327 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Don Diego de Vargas succeeds Otermin, and marches for the re- 
conquest of New Mexico ; his expedition to Taos 3'M> 

CHAPTER XLV. 
Vargas marches to subdue the pueblos of Pecos, Cia and Jemez... 317 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

The army now marches for the provinces of 2uui and Moqui 355 



• 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XLVII. 
The Moqui Indians being pacified Vargas returns to Ei Paso with 
his army 365 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 
Second expedition of Vargas into New Mexico, and his march to 
Santa Fe 37S 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

The Indians defend Santa Fe', but it is taken by the Spaniards 381 

CHAPTER L. 

Vargas marches to Cochiti, and afterward meets the Indians ou 
the mesa of San Yldefonso 389 

CHAPTER LI. 

The Indians again become hostile, and Vargas marches against 
the Taos pueblos / 400 

CHAPTER LII. 

.In expedition marches against Jemez, with the result ; conclusion. 407 



Appendix , 419 

Index. 427 



THE 



CONQUEST 



OF 



'N:Ey^ m: E x: I c o 



CHAPTER I. 



NAKA'AEZ SAILS FOR FLORIDA AND LANDS UPOX THE COASl. 

Among the adventurous spirits of the sixteenth centur} , 
who sought the acquisition of fame and wealth in the 
New World, was a Spanish cavalier named Pamfilo de 
iSTarvaez, a gentleman of rank and fortune in his native 
land. He was commanded by the king of Spain to con- 
quer the then almost fabulous land of Florida, and was 
appointed governor over all the country he might reducj^ 
to possession. He set sail from the town of San Lucar 
de Barrameda, on the 17th of June, 1527, with a fleet 
of live vessels and about six hundred men. Among the 

officers was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who held the 

-2 



18 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

responsible posts of treasurer and liigli-sheriff.i Fairly 
at sea the prows of the vessels were turned toward the 
Western world, and in due season they arrived at Sau 
Domingo, without accident. Narvaez remained at tliis 
port near fifiy days, in order to procure horses and other 
articles necessary for the expedition. Wliile there more 
than a]i hundred and forty men deserted the fleet and 
remained upon the island, being influenced to do so by 
the advantageous ofi'ers made them by the settlers. Thence 
he sailed to Santiago, a port on the southern coast of Cuba, 
where he completed his outfit. lie next sailed for Trini- 
dad, an hundred leagues from Santiago, to take in some 
provisions promised him by a gentleman who lived near 
there. He anchored the greater part of the fleet at the 
port of Cape Santa Cruz, midway between these two points, 
and sent forward two vessels for the supplies under the 
command of captain Pantoja. The latter reached Trini- 
dad in safety, but while lying off that harbor a sudden 

1 Alvar Nunez Caheza de Vaca was a native of the city of Jerez de 
la Froatcro, and was grandson of Pedro dc Vaca, who made the con- 
quest of the Canaries, at his own expense. "^Upoa Vaca's return from 
the unfortunate expedition of Narvaez, the emperor conferred upon 
him the government of Paraguay, with the title of Adalautado. He 
sailed from the port of San Lucar de Barrameda on the 2d of Novem- 
ber, li340, and arrived at Santa Catalina the 2Dth of the following 
March. He had a stormy time in Paraguay, and upon his return to 
Spain he retired to the city of Sevilla, where he lived upon a pension of 
two thousand ducats. lie is described as having the most beautiful 
and noble figure of all the conquerors of the New World ; and in the 
best days of Spanish chivalry, his valor upon the battle-lield, his reso- 
^ition in danger, and his constancy aad resignation in hardship, 
• won for him the appellation '■'Illustrious Warrior." He left 
behind hira two works— his Shipwrecks, and commentaries upon his 
government on the River de la Plata. A gentleman of Nev/ Mexico, 
Don Tomas Cabeza de Vaca, lifing at Pena Blanca, in the county of 
Sitnta Ana, claims lineal descent from Alvar Nunez. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 19 

and violent storm arose wliicli wrecked both tlie vessels, 
and drowned sixty men and forty horses. Vaca was in 
command of one of the vessels ; but having gone ashore 
with thirty of the crew in quest of the provisions they 
escaped the fate of their companions. Narvaez finding 
a secure anchorage for the fleet at Cape Santa Cruz was 
enabled to live through the storm ; and on the 5th of 
iSTovember he joined Vaca and the survivors of the wrecked 
vessels at Trinidad. The season was now far advanced, 
and being warned by the inclemency of the weather of 
the danger of venturing to sea, he determined to spend 
the winter upon the island. For this purpose the fleet, 
under the command of Vaca, was sent to the port of 
Xagua, twelve miles distant, where it was anchored in a 
safe harbor. 

The fleet remained at Xagua until the 20th of Feb- 
ruary, 1528, when JSTarvaez arrived with a small brig he 
had purchased to supply, in part, the place of the wrecked 
vessels. He brought with him a pilot who had been to 
Florida and professed to be well acquainted with the 
coast. He immediately set to work making the necessary 
preparations for the voyage, which were hastily com- 
pleted ; and on the second day after his arrival he set 
sail on his ill-fated expedition, with a fleet of four ships 
and a brig, carrying four hundred men and eighty horses. 
Steering westward, he coasted along the southern shore 
of Cuba, encountering several severe storms which endan- 
gered his safety ; and in a run of twenty days he doubled 
Cape San Anton, the western point of the island, and 
sailed within twelve leagues of Habana. The next day 
lie stood in toward the land, intending to enter the harbor, 
when a sudden storm arose from the South which drove 
the vessels off the shore in tlie direction of Florida. He 



'i^O THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO, 

■made land on the 12th of April, but sailed along the coa^i 
'until Holy Thursday, when the fleet came to anchor at 
•the mouth of a bay, upon the head of which some Indian, 
'habitations *vere seen. 

The controller, Alonzo Enrriquez, landed upon an 
island in the bay, and trafficked a little with the natives, 
who came to him without alarm. The next day, being 
Good Friday, Narvaez went ashore witli as many men as 
the boats would carry, and made a visit to the Indian set- 
tlement at the head of the bay, which he found deserted. 
The huts were generally small, rude structures, but one of 
them was large enough to hold three hundred persons. 
The only article seen of any value was a small bell of 
gold found among some fish-nets. Narvaez remained here 
(vvernight, and tlie next morning he unfuji-led the royal 
ensign and took formal possession of the country in the 
•name of the king of Spain. This ceremony completed, 
lie assembled his followers around him, and made known 
to them his authority as governor over all the lands that 
might be discovered ; when the officers laid before him 
their commissions which he approved. The remainder 
of the troops, with the horses, were now landed without 
accident, and the little army stood in arms upon a savage 
and almost unknown coast.2 The next day the Indians 
returned to their huts, but as the Spaniards had no inter- 
preter who understood their language, they were unable 
to hold any intercourse with them. The savages made 
a few signs to the strangere, as if bidding them to go 
■away, and theu^ returned into tlie interior. 

2 The place where Is arvae?; landed is established without much, if 
any, doubt, as Tampa Bay, on' the western coast of Florida, and was 
named by the Spauiirds the 'Say of the Cross. He disembarked ov. 
'Ihe northern shore, aud marched inland towards the North. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 21 

Two days afterward Narvaez, under an escort of forty 
aien and accompanied by Vaca and two other officers, 
made an excursion a short distance inland. They marched 
toward the North until evening, when they came to a Large 
bay which extended far into the interior, on the shore- 
of which they encamped uiitil the next day, when.; they 
returned to the vessels. The brig was now ordered to' 
sail along the coast in search of the harbor the pilot had 
spoken of; but in the event of the captain, not being able- 
to find it, he was directed to return to Habana and bring 
a further supply of provisions from, a ship left at that 
place in charge of Alvaro de la Cerda. 

After the departure of the brig, Narvaez, with his small 
party, returned inland to continue liis explorations. They 
marched along the coast for the distance of four leagues, 
when they captured four Indians who conducted them tr> 
felieir town at the head, of the bay. Here was found a, 
little maize in an unripe state, and the Spaniards saw four 
dead bodies covered with painted deer-skins, and deposited 
in cases, similar to those used in Castile for containing 
merchandize. The bodies were afterward burned. They 
also discovered some pieces of woolen-cloth, bunches of 
feathers, and a few sam43les. of gold. The Indians, upon 
1)eing asked where they had obtained these things, replied 
that they came from a distant province called Apalache, 
which also abounded in many other articles of great 
value. Thence they continued some ten or twelve leagues 
further into the interior, the Indians acting as guides : 
but making no discoveries, except finding a little ripe 
€orn, they retraced their steps and returned to the ships,^ 

The time had now arrived when it became necessary 
for Narvaez to take some steps toward carrj'ing into elfect 
the object of the expedition. For tliis purpose he assem-. 



22 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

l>led liis principal ofiicers and informed tliem of his inten- 
tion to penetrate into tlie interior with the troops, while 
the vessels were to follow the coast nntil they should 
arrive at the harbor mentioned by the pilot, where they 
were to await his return. This plan did not meet the 
entire approbation of his followers. Among those who 
opposed it were the notary and A^aca, who thought it 
imprudent to penetrate into tlie heart of the country, cut 
off, as they would be, from all support, until the vessels 
should be first placed in a known and safe harbor. The 
opinion of his lieutenants, however, was disregarded, and 
Narvaez followed his own judgment and inclination. He 
made immediate preparations to carry his determination 
into execution. The vessels were placed in command of 
Caravallo, an alcalde of the expedition, with necessary 
instructions to govern him. The troops were then nnis- 
tered upon the shore, fully armed and equipped for the 
march, numbering three liundred infantry and forty cav- 
alry. They were accompanied by two friars and three 
other clerg3^men. Redistributed two pounds of' biscuit 
and half a pound of bacon to each man, this being all the 
provisions he had left to give them ; and when this sup- 
ply should be consumed they would be obhged to depend 
upon the uncertainty of the march for subsistence. 



TKE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTEH II. 



YlIE AMIY MARCHES INTO TKE INTERIOR AND TAKES 
ArALACHE. 

The Spaniards inarched for the interior on Sunday, 
the 1st of May. They took a northerly course, nearly 
parallel to the sea-coast, which they held for fifteen 
days when ■they arrived at a large river which detained 
them a day in crossings In all this distance the country 
was uninhabited and barren, and the troops subsisted on 
a scanty ration of bread and bacon, given them before 
starting, and some palmettos, found on the march. Soon 
after crossing the river they encountered about two hun- 
dred Indians with whom they had some difficulty. They 
Eucceeded in making prisoners of five or six of the savages, 
^vho conducted them to. their huts .half a league oif, where 
^vas found a large quantity of corn in a ripe state. 

1 This, river is undoubtedly the Withlacooclie, which is the first large 
stream North of Tampa Bay that empties into the gulf of Mexico. The 
distance from Tampa is about an hundred miles, and according to 
^heir rate of travel, the Spaniards should have reached it iu fifteen 
days, the time they were occupied in making the march. 



24 THE CONQUEST OF NEAY 3>rEXICG. 

Here they encamped for a few days to recruit tlieii ' 
wasted strength. Their exact position not being known, 
at the request of the officers, Narvaez sent Vaca with 
forty men in search of the sea. He returned in the 
evening and reported that he had marched upon wliat 
appeared to be the sea-shore until he arrived at the river 
they had crossed, when he retraced his steps without 
having discovered the sea. Not being satisfied with this 
exploration, Narvaez sent out a second party of sixty 
infantry and six cavalry under the command of Velen- - 
zuela, who was directed to cross the river and follow it 
down to the mouth, and look for a good harbor. He 
met with little better success than A^aca. He reached 
the coast, but the water was not more than two feet deep 
in any part of it ; and the only signs of inhabitants were 
five or six canoe-loads of Indians seen at a distance. 

The next day after. Velenzucla's return the army re- 
sumed the march, and continued in a northerly direction, 
through a barren and uninhabited country. On the 17th. 
of June the Spaniards were visited by an Indian chief, 
dressed in painted deer-skins and carried upon the back 
of a warrior. He was accompanied by a large number of 
his people playing upon reed-flutes. Narvaez held inter- 
course with him by signs, and gave him to understand 
that he was going in search of Apalache. The cliief said 
he was an enemy of that people and would assist him to 
make war upon them. A few hav/k-bills and other 
trinkets were given to the Indians, and the chief, as evi- 
dence of his friendly feelings, presented the governor with, 
the deer-skin he wore. Resuming the march, that nig] it 
the Spaniards came to another river so broad and deep 
•:hey were obliged to build a large canoe to ferry themcB. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 2o 

cicross, and tliey were a whole day in getting over.". ■■ One 
soldier and his horse were swept away by the current and 
drowned ; the body of the horse was recovered by the 
Indians, and was cooked and eaten that night by the 
soldiers. They encamped upon the bank of the river nntil 
morning, when the march was resumed, and the same day 
they arrived at the town of the chief. He extended to 
the weary Spaniards tlie usual hospitalities of his tribe, 
and among other things furnished them with a supply of 
corn, of which they stood in great need. During the 
night the Indians quietly withdrew from the town and . 
disappeared^ and the army marched the next m.orning 
without one of them. making their appearance. 

While the army was in march a large party of Indians, 
fully armed and eo nipped for battle, came in sight but 
fled when the Spaniards approaclied, and afterward fol- 
lowed in their rear. A small party of cavalry was placed' 
in ambush to surprise them when they should coiue up, 

2 This river is supposed to have been the Sawanee or Suwauee, 
which rises in Georgia, flows South and empties into the gulf. Froui 
the length of time employed in marching from the Witblacooche to 
the Sawanee, Mr. Smith supposes that Narvaez crossed the river pretty 
high up. As the journal of Yaca makes no mention of having passer! 
any stream between these two rivers, it would naturally be inferred , 
that thejr crossed the Sawanee below its eastern branch, else some 
account would have been given of the latter stream. They must have 
changed their course from the North toward the West before they 
reached the river. It is the opinion of Mr. Smith, that in the march 
of the Spaniards from the Sawanee to the gulf they were conducted by 
the Indians near the present boundary between Florida and Georgia,. 
Garcilasso de la Vega, who accompanied the expedition of De Soto :i 
Vew years later, and who appears to have seen Vaca's journal when he 
wrote his account of De Soto's march, was also of the same opinion.. 
I believe this route to have been too far to the North, although I en- 
tertain a different opinion upon this poijit with a good.diial of re- 
luctance. 



26 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

and succeeded in capturing three or four who were used 
us guides. Under their direction the army continued on 
until the 24th of June, through a country covered with a 
heavy growth of timber with the ground much encumbered 
with fallen trees, when it came in sight of the long wished- 
for town of Apalache.s The soldiers v/ere much rejoiced 
when they saw the goal of their hopes, and expected this 
would be the termination of their hardships, They had 
sufi'ered much from fatigue and hunger, and been obliged 
to march many a weary mile without finding as mucli as 
a grain of corn to eat. 

When the army arrived in front of the town, Narvaez 
ordered Yaca to enter it with fifty infantry and a few 
cavalry, which he did without loss. He found it only 
occupied by the women and children. The warriors were 
absent, but they shortly returned and opened fire upon 
tlie Spaniards. Tlie action lasted but a few minutes, 
Avhen the Indians fled, leaving Vaca and his men in pos- 
session of the town. None of the soldiers were injured, 
and the only loss sustained was one horse killed. Apa- 
lache Vv'as situated in the midst of dense forests, sur- 
rounded by large bodies of fresh water filled with fallen 
trees. Tlie houses were forty in number, small and low, 
and l)uilt of thatch : an"d in them were found a laro;e 



y The exact situation of this place is not known, and it can ODly be 
located by conjecture. Narvaez was eiglit days in marching from the 
Sawauee to Apalache, and his course must liave been West, or nearly 
SO ; and I believe the town to have been situated between that river 
and the Ocilla which empties into the Bay of Apalache. The length 
of time the Spaniards were occupied in marching from the Sawauee 
to Apalache is an argument against their having crossed that river very 
high up and passt'd along near the boundary line between Florida and 
Georgia, for they could not have accomii!.iBhed the distance in eighl 
days, the time mentioned in Yaca's journal. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 27 

quantity of corn in a dry state, deer-skins, and small 
thread mantelets with whicli the women covered the per- 
son. In the fields the corn was fit for plucking. Tiie 
country, from the place of landing up to this point, was 
mostly level and sandy, generally covered with a dense 
forest of large trees of various kinds, and abounding in 
lakes. The forests were filled with rabbits, bears, deer 
and other game, and the lakes abounded with water-fowls 
and fish. 

A few hours after the Spaniards had taken possession 
of Apalache, the Indians returned in a peaceful attitude 
and requested that their women and children might be 
delivered to them. They were given up, but Narvaez 
detained a cacique who had been very active in stirring 
up the Indians to hostility. The next day the savages 
returned and made an attack upon the troops, but when 
the latter sallied out they lied to the surrounding lakes 
and escaped. The only loss sustained on either side was 
one Indian killed. The following day they renewed the 
attack, coming from the opposite side of the lake, Init 
were repulsed without loss to the Spaniards. 

The army remained at Apalache, to recruit the men 
after their fatiguing march, and also to allow Narvaez an 
opportunity of exploring the surrounding country. He 
caused three parties to start out in as many directions, 
I >ut none of them returned with favorable reports. They 
found the country thinly peopled, and difficult to l»e tra- 
>'ersed, because of the dense forests and numerous lakes 
that every vrhere abounded. The governor made inquiries 
of the captive cacique about other towns, and was told 
tliat Apalache was the most populous ; and that hi otlier 
sections the country was poorer, with fewer inhabitants, 
and abounding; in vast deserts and solitudes. He said that 



28 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO; 

toward tlie South, in a journey of nine clays in the direc-- 
tion of the sea, there was a town called Ante, whose in- 
habitants had an abundance of corn, pumpkins and fish, 
and were friendly with the people of Apalache. The 
Indians continued hostile and made frequent attacks upon 
the Spaniards, in one of which they killed one Don Pedro, 
a lord of Tescuco. They never stood their ground for 
any length of time, but generally fled when attacked in. 
return, and their covert in the lakes was so secure that 
they could not be dislodged. 

The Spaniards rested twenty-five days at Apalache, 
when Narvaez determined to go in search of Ante, of. 
which the Indians had given such a favorable aoeount.. 
He evacuated the town at the head of his troops and 
resumed the march toward the South. In the meantime 
the , Indians of all the surrounding country had been 
roused up to resistance, and seemed,determined to oppose 
his further progress. The second day-after leaving Apa- 
lache, and while crossing a lake, he was attacked by a 
large body of savages, who opened a severe fire of arrows 
upon his troops, from behind trees and among the swamp- 
grass. They succeeded in checking his advance, and dis- 
puted the passage with much spirit and l)ravery. They 
Avounded several men and horses, and were not routed 
until the cavalry luid been dismounted and charged them, 
on foot, M'hen they broke and fled into the lake. The 
Indians were all well-armed, with bows as thick as the 
arm and about three and a half feet long ; they were good 
marksmen, and shot their arrows with great accuracy the 
distance of two hundred yards, and with such force as to 
penetrate the coats of mail worn by the soldiers. The 
Spaniards now crossed the lake without further oppositioi:ii 
and continued, the march. At the distance of a league- 



TftE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 29 

they arrived at a second passage, similar to, but more 
difficult than, the first, but the Indians offered no resist- 

■auce and it was traversed in salet_y. The next day they 
came to a third passage, where they found the Indians 
assembled in large numbers to oppose them. They were 
])etter prepared to meet this attack than the former one, 
and succeeded in crossing the lalce without loss ; and 
when tliey came out upon the plain they charged the 

■Indians, killing two and wounding two or three others,. 
They now advanced for some days Avithout opposition and 
until witiiin one league of Ante, when the enemy again 
appeared and fell upon the rear-guard. In this attack, 
the Spaniards lost one man, a soldier named Avellaneda. 
He was killed by an arrow which struck the edge of hi;^ 

- cuirass with such force that the shaft passed almost entirely 
through his neck. 

The army arrived at Ante the ninth day from Apalache. 
The town was found deserted and the houses burnt, but 
the Indians in their flight had left behind tliem a good 
deal of maize, ptimpkins and beans in a ripe state.4 The 
Spaniards remained here three days. The third dav after 
•their arrival Vaca was sent in searcli of the sea, as the 
Indians had said it was near this place ; they were en- 
' eouraged in this belief, because they had seen a very laro-e 
river running toward the South. He set out with flftv 

4 The situation of this place is equally uncertain with that of Apa- 
lache, but was somewhere in the same region of country. Narvaez 
w^as nine days in reaching Auto, and his course was South, for which 
reason we may infer that it was situated between Apalache and the 
gulf of Mexico. The party sent out' from Autc, in search of tl^e sea, 
reached a cove on the coast in one day, and also saw a large river 
'flowing toward the sea. This is the only river Vaca mentions since 
crossing the Sawanee, and it is but reasonable to suppose, that had he 

- seen or crossed any other, he would have mentioned it. 



30 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

infantry and seven cavalry, and was accompanied by tlic 
commissioner friar Snarez, captain Castillo, and Andi'es 
Dorantes. In one day's march tliey reached a cove or 
inlet of the sea, where they found an abundance of oys- 
ters. The next morning A^aca sent twenty men to explore 
the sea-coast, who returned in tlie evening and reported 
that tliey had not been able to reach it, and that it was 
very distant. Tlie third day he returned to Ante and 
made a report of his explorations. In his absence the 
Indians had made an attack upon the camp, and killed 
one horse : and he found Narvaez and many of the 
soldiers sick, being worn down by the hardsln'ps of the 
march. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 31 



CHAPTEE III. 



NAFvYAEZ CAUSES BOATS TO BE BUILT AND ATTEMPTS TO 
ESCAPE BY SEA. 

• Narvaez remained at Ante seven days wlien the 
march was resumed toward the coast ; and at the end of 
the iirst day he reached the little cove where Vaca had 
halted in his explorations a few days before. Here the 
army encamped, i 

1 The point where the Spaniards reached the coast they called the Bay 
of Caballos ; and from the most reliable data I am of the opinion that it 
%vas one of the coves or inlets of Apalache Bay ; in Irulh it cannot well 
be located further West. History seems to have fixed upon this locality 
with as much certainty as any other upon the whole route. In 1539 a 
squadron from the arm j of De Soto, under Juan de Ailasco visited this 
bay, and the appearance the shore presented was stated by the Ynci 
in his account of the expedition. They saw plainly where the furnace 
had been built, and charcoal was still found lying round about. The logs 
the Spaniards had hollowed out and used for horse-troughs were also 
there. They were told bv the Indians that Narvaez had encamped at 
that place and built his boats. They poiuted out to Auasco where 
various events had transpired, and took him all over the ground ; and 
also showed him where the Indians had killed ten of his men, as is 
stated in Vaca's journal. They explained to him by signs all that had 
occurred there. He and his men searched in holes and under the bark 
of trees to discover letters or other mementoes of Narvaez's men, but 
found nothing. Ilerrera confirms this location. la 1722 Charlevoix 
was at San Marcos de Apalache, and in speaking of the bay wrote as 
follows : " This bay is precisely that which Garcilasso de la Yega, in 
his History of Florida, calls the port of Aute." Let. xxxiv. 



32 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

The condition of the Spaniards was now pitiable in ttre 
extreme, and was becoming more critical every honr. 
The march was ardiions and dangerous ; disease was daily 
wasting away their number, and the sick and disabled 
were so numerous there were not horses enough to trans- 
' port them. They were almost without provisions ; in an 
unknown country cut off from all hope of succor, and 
surrounded by a savage foe ; they were completely lost 
in the wilderness of forests and swamps and knew not 
whither to turn to extricate themselves. In the midst of 
these difficulties, of tlien:iselves so well calculated to dis- 
pirit both officers and men, a secret conspiracy was put 
on foot by the cavahy, for the purpose of abandoning the 
governor and securing a better fate for themselves. The 
misfortunes which beset them had now reached such a 
point that some immediate steps . seemed necessary for 
self-preservation. Narvaez was fully aware of the critical 
situation, and he took counsel of the present danger for 
his future course. The evening he encamped at the little 
cove he called to him each officer and man of any note, 
and asked their individual advice as to the course that 
should be pursued. After cahn deliberation upon the state 
of affairs, they coincided in the project of building boats, 
and endeavoring to make their escape by sea. But thi.s 
course, which seemed the only feasible one left, by whicli 
they could hope to rescue themselves, was surrounded by 
many difficulties. They had neither tools, material, nor 
workmen ; nor had they provisions to sustain themselves 
while at work building boats. The matter was fully 
discussed without coming to any decision that night ; and 
when the council broke up each one repaired to his couch 
in the sand, with a prayer to God that lie would direct 
'■ ^hem in all their trials. 



T'lIE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 33 

Upon furtlier reflection, the next dnj, it was resolved 
to attempt to build boats in spite of the difficulties, and 
trust their future fortunes to the waves of the sea. It 
was their intention to coast along the gulf-shore until thev 
should reach some of the Spanish settlements in lilexico. 
They commenced to build boats the 4th of September, 
and by the 20tli five were comp)leted, each one being 
thirty-one feet in length. Their tools were of a very rude 
description, and their materials entirely unsuited to the 
purpose. One of the men made a pan- of bellows of deer- 
skins. Nails, saws, axes, etc., were manufactured from, 
their stirrups, spurs, bridle-bits and other articles of iron 
about their equipments. The rigging for the boats was 
manufactured from the fibre of the palmetto, and the tails 
and manes of their horses ; and the shirts of the officers and 
men were made into sails. The boats were likewise calked 
with the fibre of the palmetto. Every third day a horse 
was killed and divided among the workmen and the sick; 
•and to increase their store of provisions foraging parties 
made frequent excursions to Ante in search of grain, where 
they found a few bushels of corn. The forest around 
swarmed with Indians, who harassed the M'orkmen, and 
made frequent attacks upon those who went out in search 
of provisions. A pai'ty of men gathering shell-fish in the 
neighboring cove were attacked within sight of the camp 
iind ten of them killed. A Greek named Teodoi'o made 
rosin from the pine trees with which he pitched tlie 
boats, and stones were used for ballast, though it was witli 
difficulty a sufficient quantity could be found for that 
purpose. Bottles, to hold water for tlie voyage, were 
made of tanned skins of the horses' legs. 

The whole distance the Spaniards had marehed from 
ihe Bay of the Cross, jSaya de la Cruz^ where they first 



34 THE CONQUEST OF XEW MEXICO. 

lauded, to the point where the boats were built, was esti- 
mated at about two hundred and eighty leagues ; and the 
number who had died of hunger and disease, and been 
killed by the Indians, was forty, including officers and men. 

The final preparations for departure were made by 
the 22d, when they went on board the boats. The 
same day they killed the last of their horses, and in- 
cluding this they had but a very limited supply of pro- 
visions for the voyage. They embarked in the following 
order : " In the boat of the governor there went forty- 
nine men ; in another which he gave to the controller 
and commissary others as many. The third he gave to 
captain Alonzo de Castillo and Andres Dorantes with 
forty-eight men ; and another he gave to two captains, 
Tellez and Penalosa with forty-seven men. The last he 
gave to the assessor and me (Vaea) with forty-nine men." 
The whole number who embarked, independent of the 
officers, was two hundred and forty. The boats were 
heavily laden, and after the men were on board and the 
baggage and provisions taken in, there remained not more 
than three inches of the guuMale above water. The}'' were 
so much crowded, that the officers and men had not even 
space to move, but were obliged to sit in one position. 
In all the boats there was not one person who had any 
knowledge of navigation. 

The place where the Spaniards embarked is known as 
Jji JjiUja de los Caballos, the Bay of Horses. They went 
on board the 22d of September, and commenced their 
voyage the same day. They turned their backs upon that 
inhospitable coast, and launched their fi\ail boats upon the 
bosom of an almost unknown gulf, with emotions of no 
orcUnary kind. A dark cloud, from which gleamed no 
ray of hope, encompassed this band of heroes, and the 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. hO 

stoutest heart almost gave way under tlieir misfortunes. 
The prows of their little vessels were turned seaward 
without a martial sound, or a joyful shout to cheer their 
departure. In silence and in fear they cast loose their 
boats and started on their voyage. 

For seven days they passed through shallow sounds, 
and at the end of that time they came to an island near 
the main-land. Five canoes loaded with Indians started 
from the main-land to come off to them, but becoming 
alarmed they abandoned their canoes, which fell into the 
hands of the Spaniards. Some of the boats landed upon 
the island, where they were fortunate enough to find a 
few mullets and dried mullet-roes ; and as their stock of 
provisions by this time had become much reduced, they 
were thankful for this meagre supply. They made use 
of the Indian canoes to raise the gunwales of their own 
boats, which rendered them more secure. They remained 
on the island but a short time when they re-embarked 
and pursued their voyage. In a league they discovered 
a strait the island made with the main land, through 
which they passed. They named the strait San Miguel, 
because it was seen upon tluit day. They now directed 
their course toward the West and pulled along the shore 
of the gulf of j\Iexico. Thus they coasted for thirty daj's, 
now and then pulling in close to the main-land and enter- 
ing some of the creeks and coves, which they found 
shallow and difficult of navigation. The only inhabitants 
they saw in all this distance were a few miserable Indians 
fishing. The Spaniards suffered greatly for water. The 
skins that contained it had rotted by this time and were 
l)eoome perfectly useless ; , and their supply being ex- 
hausted they landed upon an island and searched for 
some in vain. They had now been five days without 



36 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

water, and tlieir thirst had become so intolerable tliat 
they drank salt-water, from the effect of which four of 
them died. While thej were upon this island a violent 
storm arose, which detained them six days. 

Tlie storm had not yet subsided when they again re- 
embarked, preferring rather to trust themselves to the 
})erils of the wind and waves than remain upon the island 
and endure such great thirst without a prospect of having 
it relieved. The sea ran very high and several times the 
boats were in great danger of foundering. About sun-set 
they doubled a point of laud behind which they found 
calm-water in a sheltered cove. As they neared the 
shore several canoes filled with unarmed Indians came oil' 
to meet them, and followed them in to the land. AVhen 
they had made fast their boats the Indians conducted 
them to their village, where they offered them fish to 
eat, the Spaniards giving them in exchange corn and 
trinkets. The cacique invited Narvaez to his hut, where 
he tendered him the rude hospitalities of his tribe. Their 
friendship appears to have been a pretext to conceal 
their hostile designs, for in the night the Indians made 
an attack upon the Spaniards who were in the houses 
and scattered along the shore, and were with difticulty 
beaten off. The governor was M''ounded in the face, and 
hardly a man escaped injury. The cacique was made 
prisoner in the conflict, but was afterward liberated by his 
people. He left behind him, in his escape, his robe of 
skins of the civet-marten, which had a fragrance of amber 
and musk. The Indians renewed the attack three times 
and fought with great determination. At the last assault 
fifteen men, under captains Derantes, Penalosa and Tel- 
lez, were placed in ambush and attacked them in rear 
when, after short resistance, they fled and did not return. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 37 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE SPANIARDS RE-EMBAEK AND VACA'S BOAT IS CAST UPON 
THE SHORE. 

After the repulse of the Indians the Spaniards passed 
the night in quietness, and in the morning the enemy 
was not to be seen. The weather had now become cokl. 
A keen wind was blowing from the North, and being 
without shelter they burnt thirty of the Indian cabins for 
fuel. The sea was so boisterous all that day that they 
were unable to embark and were obliged to remain upon 
the island. Daring the night the sea became more calm, 
and on the folio win o- mornino; thev ao;ain embarked and 
continued their voyage. After rowing three days in a 
westerly direction they entered an estuary, where a canoe 
tilled with Indians came toward them. When they 
approached within speaking distance Narvaez asked them 
for water, which they promised to bring him if he would 
furnish them something to hold it. The Greek and the 
negro accompanied the Indians for water, against the 
advice of the governor and the rest of the men, the sav- 
ages leavino; two of their number as hostao;es. Some- 
time in the night the Indians returned Avitli the vessels 
empty, but without the Greek and negro. They spoke 



38 THE CONQUEST OF NEAY MEXICO. 

a few words to the two hostages who immediately at- 
tempted to escape, but were prevented by those who had 
them in charge. 

The next morning the Spaniards were visited by many 
Indians in canoes, among whom were five or six chiefs, 
of commanding appearance and great influence ; they 
wore the hair flowing upon the shoulders and were 
dressed in robes of marteus,*with lion-skin ties. The}' 
demanded the release of the two hostages, but Narvaez 
declined to give them up until the Greek and negro were 
returned. This they promised to do, and also agreed to 
furnish the Spaniards with water and many other articles 
of Avhich they stood in need if some of them would 
accompany them to the shore,, but the governor refused 
to accede to their proposition.! Tlie Indians continued 
to collect in great numbers, and fearing they intended to 
take possession of the entrance to the estuary to prevent 
liis escape, Narvaez put to sea, followed by the canoes of 
the savages. They kept in his wake, and but a short 
distance astern, until about midday, when they com- 
menced an attack by throwing clubs and slinging stones; 
but while the fight was going on the wind freshened up 
when the Indians paddled back to the land and the boats 
held on their course toward the West. They row§d 
until the middle of the afternoon when Vaca, whose boat 
was leading, discovered a cape by which flowed a great 



I The following note of Dorotheo, the Greek, is made by Biedma ; 
Recueil, p. 72 : "In 15-10, when the soldiers under Soto came to the 
town of Mavila, they heard that Don Dorotheo, with his companions, 
had been there, and they were shown a dirk that had been his." It is 
the opinion of Mr. Smith that Teodoro traveled inland, being invited 
by the appearance of a country of plenty and a people less barbarous, 
and he may have wandered to the North into the country where the 
bison abounded and passed his life among the hunters of that animal. 



THE CONQUEST Of NEW MEXICO. 39 

'jiver. He cast anclioi- near a small island to wait until 
the governor slionld come up ; but the latter instead 
entered a bay near by tilled with small islands. Here all 
the boats came together and took in a . supply of water. 
When they embarked again they tried to make a point 
in the riv^er behind the island to obtain wood, but the 
current was so strong they were unable to reach it. The 
river discharged itself into the gulf with such impetuosity 
that the current, assisted by a strong North wind then 
prevailing, drove the boats out to sea in spite of all their 
labor at the oars. When half a league from shore tliey 
sounded but could not reach bottom in thirty fathoraf. 
They labored two days to reach the land, but were unable 
to make headway against the strong current that poured 
out the mouth of the river. On the third morning 
before the sun was up they discovered smoke on shore, 
in the distance. They pulled toward the land all day 
and by evening arrived within a short distance of it ; but 
fearing to approach nearer in the night, and being then 
in three fathoms of water, they resolved to rest on their 
oars until morning. 

When the morning dawned Vaca's boat was the only 
one near the place where they had rested on their oars 
the night before, the others beijig nowhere in sight. He 
sounded and found thirty fathoms of water. He strained 
his eyes in vain over the smooth surface of the gulf in 
search of the missing boats, but no trace of them could 
be discovered, and himself and crew found themselves 
alone upon the waters. Under the circumstances they 
concluded to continue their course, and again taking to 
the oars held on their way to the West. They rowed 
until vespers, when Vaca espied two boats ahead, the 
iforemost of which proved to be that of the governor,. 



40' THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

When tliey met Narvaez and Vaca held a consultation' a,& 
to the proper course to be pursued. The latter was in 
favor of joinino; the third boat, when the three together 
should continue oji whithersoever God should be pleased 
to direct them, but the governor wanted to land because 
the third bo-at was too far out at sea to be overtaken. 
The latter course was adopted and the boats were turned 
toward the shore. They rowed in that direction until 
near sun-set, Vaca's boat, meanwhile, having fallen some 
distance astern, for the other boat had the strongest men 
and best rowers. He asked Narvaez to give hnn a rope 
that he might put his boat in tow, but this he declined, 
telling him at the same time that it was no longer a time 
wlien one man should command another, but that each^ 
one should do what he thought best calculated to save his 
own life. Narvaez now held on his way, but as Vaca was 
unable .to keep up with him he turned his boat from the 
land and joined the one out at sea, which he found to be 
commanded b}^ captains Penalosa and Tellez. 

These two boats- now steered westward for four days, 
when they encountered a furious storm that separated 
them. Yaca's boat came near foundering, and when the 
storm abated he fomid himself a second tiuie alone upoi> 
the sea. lie and his men wore now almost in despair, 
but they continued their voyage. Such had been the 
inclemency of the weather, and the hunger, thirst and 
other privations they had been obliged to endure, that at 
the close of the next day nearly all the crew were lyings 
insensible in the bottom of the boat. There were not 
live men able to stand upon their feet, and the master and 
Yaca were the only ones capable of handling an oar. 
Early in the evening the master also gave out and Yaca 
Avas left the only one of the whole crew able to do any- 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW ilEXICO. 41 

thing ; but the former revived a little during the night 
and took charge of the boat, when the latter laid down 
and rested awhile. Toward the dawn of day Vaca was 
aroused by the roaring of the sea, and believing they were 
near the shore cast the lead and found seven fathoms of 
water. They resolved to keep a little ways out at sea 
until tlie sun was up, so as to see how they were situated, 
and therefore continued to pull gently along the shore. 
They had tluis rowed for more than a league when a 
great wave struck the boat and knocked it almost out of 
the water upon shore. The blow aroused the crew from 
their almost insensible state, and they crawled upon their 
hands and knees to the sliore and sought shelter in some 
neighboring ravines. Here they found a little rain-water; 
and building a lire parched some corn and warmed their 
benumbed bodies. The boat was cast upon the shore oil 
the 6th of November. 2 

2 There is a diversity of opinion as to the location of the island upon 
which the boat of Vaca was wrecked. It is believed by Mr. Smith 
that all the boats were lost somewhere East of the Mississippi river, and 
which is generally concurred in by those who have examined the sub- 
ject. Hd contends that the boat of the controller, Enrriquez, was 
wrecked at the mouth of Pensacola Buy, and that the crew reached 
the land on the Western shore. From the most careful examination 
I have been able to give the subject I believe that the boat of Vaca was 
cast away West of the Mississippi, upon one of the low sandy islands 
that line the coast of Louisiana. There are several reasons for coming 
to this conclusion. 

In the first place, the time they were occupied in coasting along the 
shore would have enabled them to get beyond the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi. From the time they embarked at the Bay of Cabailos until 
Vaca's boat was cast upon the island of Malhado, forty-five days 
elapsed, exclusive of stoppages. They were seven days passing through 
the shoals after they had embarked, and the other thh'ty-eight were 
occupied in rowing toward the West along the coast of the gulf. That 
they did not follow all the windings and indentations of the coast is 
very evident, for Vaca says they only now and then entered the coves. 



42 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

After the men Lad eaten and rested awhile, Vaca or- 
dered Lope de Ovieda, who was stouter than the rest, to 
.ascend a tree near by and take a survey of the country. 
Upon his return he reported that they were upon an 
island and the countr^^ had the appearance of having been 
trodden up by cattle, from which he inferred that it was 
inhabited by Christians. He was now directed to make 

After rowing thirty-four days they passed the mouth of a great river, 
the current of which was so strong that it drove the boats out to sea in 
spite of all they could do ; and four days afterward the boats were 
separated in a storm, and that of Vaca wrecked. The Mississippi is 
the only river that empties into the gulf of Mexico with a current as 
strong as the one here described. The mouth of the river was encoun- 
tered tour days before Vaca's boat was wrecked ; and Mr. Smith 
locates the island of Malhado between the Choctawhatchee river and 
Pensacola Bay, but there is no river, with a strength of current equal 
to the one the Spaniards encountered, emptying into the gulf at a 
point four days east of the islands off Pensacola Bay. There is an- 
other reason in f;ivor of the conclusion to which I have arrived as to 
the place of Vaca's shipwreck. After he and his companions started 
inland in their wanderings through the country, they met with no river 
the size of the Mississippi, and it is not likely a stream which the Indi- 
ans called the "Father of Waters" would have passed unnoticed in 
the journal. The deepest river Vaca mentions only reached up to the 
waist, and that stream was encountered when pretty far out upon the 
plains. If they had come to the Jlississippi while traveling on land 
it would have impeded their march unless they could have obtained 
canoes of the Indians to cross it. 

The circumstantial evidence already given seems sufficient to fix the 
shipwreck of Vaca at a point West of the Mississippi, in the absence 
of other testimony. But in addition to this we have direct evidence 
upon the subject. Castaneda, in his narrative of the expedition of Co- 
ronado, says the Spaniards passed the mouth of the Mississippi, which 
they discovered, on the last day of October, about which time they 
encountered the furious storm which separated the boats and drove that 
of Narvaez out to sea. According to the same chronicler, six days 
after passing the mouth of the river Vaca's boat was cast upon the 
:ehore, which would have allowed tbem sufficient time to make some of 
Ihe low sandy islands that skirt the coast of Louisiana. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 43 

ii furtlier reconnoissance of the island without going far 
from camp, for fear of a surprise by the Indians. He set 
out, but being absent a considerable time Vaca dispatched 
two men in search of him, who met him near the camp 
on his return, followed by three Indians armed with bows 
and arrows. He had penetrated about half a league into 
the wood, when he came to some deserted huts, from 
wliich he took a small dog, an eartlien pot and a few 
mullets. The Indians followed a little distance in his 
rear until they arrived near the camp, when they seated 
themselves upon a bank, where they were joined in half 
an hour by fifty more armed warriors. The savages were 
peaceably disposed ; but had they been hostile resistance 
had been useless, for there were not six Spaniards able 
to raise themselves from the grouud. The Indians were 
persuaded to approach, when a few presents of beads and 
hawk-bills were given to each warrior, who in return gave 
Vaca an arrow, esteemed by them a pledge ot friendship. 
The Spaniards explained, as well as they were able, their 
unfortunate condition and commended themselves to their 
mercy. The appeal seemed to touch a chord of sympathy 
in the hearts of the savages, who gave them to under- 
stand, when they went away, that they would return in 
the morning with something for them to eat, as tliey had 
nothing at that time to give them. They came back the 
next day as they had promised, bringing witli them a 
large quantit_y of fish and certain roots which they gath- 
ered from undef the water, which tliey oflered to Vaca 
und his men. 



44 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER V. 



riTIABLE CONDITION OF VAC.V AND HIS MEN, AND WHAT 
BEFEL THEM. 

The Spaniards remained on this island several days to 
recruit their strenpjth und to make preparations to con- 
tinue their voyage. The Indians treated them with 
great kindness, supplying them with fish and roots, and 
doing many other things to increase their comfort. Hav- 
ing now become well-rested and supplied with an abund- 
ance of food and water, A'aca determined to re-embark. 
Their boat was buried in the sand, but it was digged out 
and launched with much difficulty. To accomplish this 
they were obliged to work in the cold water a long time 
v.'ithout clothing. The boat once more afloat they put 
in their provisions and went on board. But they had 
only fairly embarked when a fierce wave struck it, knocked 
the oars from the hands of the rowers and capsized lier. 
The assessor and one man were drowned^ while the others 
were cast upon the shore, naked, having lost all their 
clothing, provisions and everything else the boat con- 
tained. 

The condition of the poor Spaniards was now more 
pitiable than ever. They found themselves a second time 



THE CONQUEST OF NEV/ MEXICO. 45 

Upon an inhospitable and sava2i;e coast, entirely at the 
mercy of the Indians. The time of year was November ; 
the cold was intense, with a sharp wind that seemed to 
go to the very marrow of their bones. They had neither 
clothinj^, tents or anything else to shelter them from the 
Inclemency of the weather. Since the month of May 
Vaca himself had eaten nothing but corn ; and the whole 
party had become so mnch emaciated from past suffer- 
ino-s that they had the appearance of skeletons. Tlieir 
hearts trailed in the dust at the dreary prospect before 
them, and nanght else than the indomitable spirit of 
Spanish chivalry gave them resolution to struggle against 
their fate. They were thrown upon the shore -svhei-e 
they had previously been encamped and fortunately found 
alive a few embers of the fire they had left in the morn- 
ing. They kindled anew the expiring coals, around which 
they gathered and warmed their chilled bodies. 

The Indians did not know that the Spaniards had re- 
embarked in the morning and been cast ashore again, 
and when they returned to tlie camp toward evening v/ith 
the usual snpply of food they were so rnucli surprised and 
shocked at their desolate appearance that they turned 
and fled from fear. Vaca called to them and induced 
them to return. Thc}^ came and sat down with him and 
his men, when he related to them as well as he could, 
without the aid of an interpreter, the new misfortune 
that had overtaken them, and how two of their number 
had been drowned. This relation, with their wretched 
appearance, sensibly affected the Indians, who manifested 
their grief by uttering loud lamentations for more than half 
an hour. Fearing they might perish in their exposed and 
destitute condition they besought the savages to take 
them to their huts and give them shelter, which they 



4G THE CONQUEST OP NEAV MEXICO. 

consented to do. As their huts were some distance inland 
from the scene of the shipwreck, a party of thirty Indians 
was immediately dispatched to make preparations for the 
reception of the Spaniards, each one carrying an arm-load 
of wood. Toward evening the remainder of them took 
the weary Cliristians in their arms and carried them to 
their village. Those who had been sent in advance had 
arrived some time before and had already kindled largo 
lircs. They carried their guests from one fire to another, 
resting at each one long enough for them to warm 
themselves ; when they were taken to a hut which had 
been prepared fur their reception and in which a largo 
fire was blazing. Here they took up their quarters, and 
at night they laid themselves down to sleep in greater 
comfort than they had known for many months. When 
their arrival was known through the village the Indians 
held great rejoicings at their rescue, which consisted 
principally in yelling and dancing, and which was kept 
up all night. Hearing such an nproar among the savages 
without knowing the cause, the Spaniards were in great 
fear and expected every moment to be offered np victims 
to some heathen rite. They passed the night in safety, 
]iov,'ever, and the next morning the Indians assured them 
of their friendly feeling by presenting them roots and fish 
to eat, and otherwise treating them with great kindness.- 
The Indians informed the Spaniards there were other 
white men in that vicinity, whereupon Yaca, who had no 
doubt they were some of his wrecked companions, sent 
out two men in search of them. They had not proceeded 
far, however, when they met a party of their countrymen 
coming toward tlie village, M'lien they turned back and 
accompanied them in. The new-comers were Andrea 
Dorautcs and Castillo with their boat's crew. Their boat 



THE CONQUEST CF NEW MEXICO. 4T 

]iad been capsized on the fiftli day of the month about a 
league and a half from that place, but the crew escaped 
to the shore without losing anything. The meeting of 
these unfortunate wanderers was both sad and pleasant^- 
sad that thej^ should encounter each other under such 
painful circumstances, and yet not unattended with pleas- 
urable emotions, for they were again united in their 
misfortunes and could help each other to bear up under 
them. The congratulations of meeting having passed 
they consulted together as to the means of making their 
escape. They agreed to refit the boat of Dorantes and 
Castillo, and those who were able were to go to sea in 
her, while the others were to remain until they should 
have sufficiently recovered their strength to make their 
way along the coast in search of some Christian land. 
They took immediate measures to carry out their de- 
termination and continue the voyage. The boat was 
launched after much exertion, but she was hardly afloat 
again when she sunk, and thus an end was put to their 
hopes of escape by water. They looked on Avith mourn- 
ful interest as the boat filled and went down before their 
eyes ; and when the gulf had calmly closed over her 
and they saw themselves deprived of the last means of 
rescue, they turned from the shore and retraced their 
steps to the Indian village with heavy hearts. Since 
they were, last wrecked one of their number, a cavalier 
named Tavera, had died, and the survivors were in a 
very enfeebled condition. 

The fortunes of our wanderers seemed to become darker 
and darker with each turn of affairs, but hope still told 
"a flattering tale" and bade them be of good cheer. 
Escape by sea being now hopeless they determined to use 
every exertion to eifect it by land. Finding themselves 



48 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

Hot in a condition to continue tlieir journey westward, 
and the weather being exceedingly boisterous and cold, 
they yielded to a necessity they could not avoid and con- 
cluded to remain and spend the winter where they then 
were. It was agreed that four men, the most robust of 
the party and excellent swimnjers, should l)e sent forward 
in search of the Spanish settlement at the Panuco, which 
was believed to be very near, to give information of those 
who remained upon the island, and, if possible, to obtain 
assistance for them. Those who were sent upon this 
expedition were x\lvaro Fernandez, a Portuguese carpen- 
ter and sailor, J\lendez, Figueron, a native of Toledo, and 
Astudillo, a native of Zafre, wlio took with them an 
Indian of the island as guide. These strong-hearted 
pioneers made a few necessary preparations, when bidding 
iarewell to their companions they started upon their haz- 
ardous journey. 

Within a few da^'S the weather increased in cold and 
became very tempestuous. The Indians were now unable 
to c^-tch fish or gather roots, and food of all kinds became 
so scarce that starvation began to stare them in the face. 
The huts aitbrded so little protection from the inclemency 
of the weather that the Spaniards sufi'ered much from the 
intense cold and ]»egan to sicken and die. Five of the 
men upon the coast were reduced to such extremity that 
they were obliged to eat the dead bodies of their com- 
panions to preserve life. Death made sucli havoc among 
them that in a short time out of eighty, the whole number 
who had arrived in the two boats, but fifteen remained 
alive, and they were reduced to mere skeletons. To 
increase their misery, about this time the Indians were 
visited by a fatal sickness that carried ofi" half their 
jiumber and the Spauiai'ds Avere accused of being the 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 49 

' cause of it. This belief made the savages hostile and they 
formed a plan to murder them in revenge. But they were 
prevented from carrying the plot into execution by one 
of their own number persuading them the Spaniards were 
not the cause of the sickness, and as evidence of which he 
reminded them that nearly all the strangers had died of 
the same disease. The Indians also entertained ill-feeling 
toward them because they had eaten their dead, a prac- 
tice which greatly shocked them, savages though they 

were. 

4 



50 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.- 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE ISLAND OP MALIIADO, WITH S0:ME ACCOUNT OF THE 
INHABITANTS. 

The ialaiid t%oii which the Spaniards were wrecked, 
and which was the scene of so many disasters to them, 
they gave the name of ]\Ialhado, or IMisfortune, of which 
the following account is given by Vaca, with the manners 
and customs of the people. He says : 

" To this island we gave the name of jMalhado. The 
people thei'e are large and well-formed; they have no 
other arms than bows and arrows; and in the use of them 
they are extremtely skillful. The men have one of tlieir 
nipples bored from side to side, and some have both ; 
and through the holes they wear a cane the length of two 
palms and a half and the thickness of two lingers. They 
liave the under lip also bored, and wear i-n it a piece of 
cane the thinness of half a linger. The Women are ac- 
customed to hard labor. The stay the* Indians maire on 
this island is from October to the end of February. Their 
subsistence is the root which I have spoken of, got from 
under the water in November and December. They 
have wears, but take fish only in this time, and afterward 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.. 51 

tliey live on the roots. At the end of Febr«tary they go 
into o-ther parts to seek susteivance, for then the roots. 
begin to grow and are not good. They love their off- 
spring, the most of any people in the world, and treat 
them with the greatest- mildness. When it occurs that a 
son dies, the parents and kindred weep for him, and so 
does every one ; and the wailing continues a whole year. 
They begin it in the morning of every day before sun- 
rise, the parents first and after them the whole town. 
They do the same at midday and at sunset. After a year 
of mourning has passed awviy they perform the rites of 
the dead, and tliey wash and purify themselves from the 
stain of smoke. They lament all the defunct in this, 
manner, excepting the aged, for whom they show na 
regret, as they say their season has j>as8ed and there is. 
no enjoyment for them, and tliat living they wo.uld occupy 
the earth and take the support of the young. It is their 
custom to bury the dead, unless it be those among them 
wlio are physicians, and those they burn. While the fire 
kindles they are all dancing and making high festivity 
until the bones become calcined. After the lapse of a 
year the funeral rites are celebi^ated and all take part in 
them. The dnst is then presented in water for the rela- 
tives to drink. 

" Every man has an acknowledged wife. The physi- 
cians are allowed more freedom ; they may have two or 
three wives, among whom exist the greatest friendship 
and harmony. When a daughter is to be married, from 
tliat time to the marriage all that lie who takes her to wife 
kills in hunting, or catches in fishing, the woman brings 
to the house of her father, without daring to take or tasto 
any part of it, but victuals are taken thence to the groom. 
In all this interval neithei> her father nor mother enters 



52 THE CONQUEST OF KEAV MEXICO. 

liis house, nor can he enter their' s, nor the house of tlic 
children ; and if bj chance they are in the (Hrection of 
meeting they turn aside and pass the distance of a cross- 
l)0w shot from each other, carrying the head low tlic 
vvdiile and the eyes cast on the ground ; for they hold it 
;in impropriety to see or to speak to each other. But the 
woman has liberty to converse and communicate witli 
the ])arents of her future husband. The custom exists 
from this island to the distance of more than fifty leagues 
inland. 1 

" There is another custom, which is, when a son or 
brother dies, at the house where the death takes place, 
for 'three months they do not go after food, but sooner 
famish, and tlieir relatives and neighbors provide what 
they eat. As in the time we were here a great number 
(jf the natives died, in most houses tliere was very great 
diunger, because of the observance of their ceremonial : 
and ahhough they who sought after food worked hard, 
yet from the severity of the season they obtained but 
little ; in consequence, the Indians who kept me left the 
island and passed over in canoes to the main into some 
bays where there were many oysters. 

" For three months in the year they eat nothing else 
than these and drink very bad water. There is great 
want of wood, and mosquitoes are in great numbers. 
Tlie houses are of mats, set up on masses of oyster-shells, 
which they sleep upon, and in skins should they accidently 
])03sess them. In this way we lived until the month of 
April, when we went to the sea-shore, where we ate 

1 A similar custom to the one here described, in regard to the cere- 
mony observed during the time of betrothel, still exists among the 
Miemtres band of the Apache tribe, and the Nabajo Indians of New 
Mexico. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



53 



blackberries all the month, daring which time the Lidians 
did not omit to practice their rites and festivities. "2 

The physicians among the people of JMalhado prac- 
ticed the healing art in a manner pecnliar to them- 
selves. When one of them was called to attend upon 
a sick person, it was the custom to blow npon the seat 
of disease, which was believed to have a magical effect 
in the way of curing the ills which flesh is heir to. 
They also scarified over the pain, made cauteries witli 
fire, and sucked tlie wounded parts. They professed 
to cast out all infirmities by merely blowing upon tlm 
patient and the lajang on of hands. Cantering with fire 
was held in the greatest repute. It was the custom of 
these Indians, after having been cured of disease, to give 
the physician all their goods and then to seek among their 
relatives for more to give him.. The Spaniards had not 
been a great wliile upon the island, when the Indiana 
wished to make pkysijcians. of them, and, as Vaca relates 
in his journal, witliant sabjecting them to the ordeal of 
an examination or asking for a diploma. But they de- 
sired all knowledge of the healing art and declined to 
assume the responsibilities of the profession. The Indi- 
ans seemed determined to have their wishes gratified in 
this particular, and used persuasive means so long as there 
was any hope of their having tlie desired effect. But 
when this course failed to induce the Christians to alter 
their minds, the savages applied a more potent argument, 
which consisted in the stoppage of their rations. This 
last appeal moved the resolution of the stubborn cavaliers, 
who seeing there was no other course left than to comply 
with the wishes of the Indians, consented to enter the 
profession in competition with their red brethren, an_,d 

2 Aa extract from Vaca's journal. 



■54 THE CCIs^QU^EST OF NEW IM'E:!^:!^. 

without ceremony began to practice. By way of encouY- 
^agement, one of the Indians told them that he could 
I'emove pain from the stomach by merely passing a heated 
stone over it, but inasmuch as they were very extraordi- 
nary men they would be able to accomplish a great deal 
more. 

The mode of practice adopted by the Spaniards was at 
once simple and harmless, and if the patient received no 
relief from the treatment he was sure to come out of the 
doctor's hands without injury. When called upon to 
*dminister to those who stood in need of their services it 
was their common custom "to bless the «ick, breathe 
upon them, and recite a Paternoster and Ave Maria, 
praying with all earnestness to God our Lord that he 
would give them health and influence us to do them some 
good." This system of practice seems to have acted like 
a charm, and it is related that in every instance after the 
sign of the cross had been made over the patient he im- 
mediately recovered. The Christians now received much 
better treatment than before and at once grew into favor 
and importance. In many instances the Indians even 
-denied themselves food to supply them and tlifey made 
them presents of skins and many other articles. At one 
period there was great scarcity of provisions, and Vaca 
mentions that he went three days witheut tasting any kind 
of food. 

The Spaniards who came to the island with Dorantes 
and Castillo, as well as those belonging to the boat of 
Vaca, with the exception of himself, lived some time with 
another tribe of Indians of a different tongue and ances- 
try, who dwelt upon the opposite shore of the main-land 
where oysters abounded, but tli^y retm^ned to Malhado 
•about the first of April. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 55 

The inhabitants of all this region went naked, with the 
exception of the women and young damsels, who covered 
a portion of the person ; the former with the moss that 
grew upon the trees and the latter with deer-skins. Thej 
were of two distinct tribes and spojse different languages ; 
one being Capoques and the other Han, and the members 
of each tiibe lived by themselves. They had no chief 
and appeared to be without pohtical organization. They 
were generous toward each other. Of their custom when 
visiting Vaca spealvS as follows : " They have a custom 
when they meet, or from time to time when they visit, of 
remaining half an hour before they speak, weeping ; and 
this over he that is visited first rises and gives the other 
all he has, which is received, and after a little while he 
carries it aw.?iy with liim and often without saying a 
word/' 



56 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXIO'3. 



CHAPTER VII. 



DORANTES AND CASTILLO ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE, AND "WHAr 
HAPPENED TO VACA. 

When Dorantes and Castillo returned to the- island of 
Malhado upon the opening of spring tliey assembled all 
the Spaniards they found alive, who numbered fourteen. 
They had suffered much during the winter from the hard- 
sliips they were obliged to ^ndure, and were emaciated 
and enfeebled. At this time Vaca was still upon the shore 
of the bay where he had wintered with the Indians who 
held him captive, and was much prostrated by disease. 
^Hearing of his condition his companions in misfortune 
gave an Indian the cloak of marten-skins before men- 
tioned to pass them over to the main-land to visit him,. 
All were crossed over the strait in safety but Hieronymo 
de Alaniz and Lope' de Ovieda, who being too feeble for- 
the trip were left upon the island. They found Vaca 
still too sick to accompany them in an attempt to escape, 
and they determined to proceed without him. They 
were joined by one of his men, which increased their 
number to thirteen. They started along the coast toward. 
the West, leaving Vaca m the care of tlie Indians,- 



HHE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 57 

The condition of Vaca at this time was more deplorable 
than at any former period, and misfortnnes seemed to 
thicken around him from day to day. He found himself 
prostrated by disease, in the hands of the savages, and 
deserted by his companions with whom he had toiled and 
suffered so much. In their desire to escape they had left 
him to his fate, and now there seemed for him no hope 
of deliverance. xVs he bade them farewell, and saw their 
forms disappear toward the setting sun, his heart sunk 
within him and he almost gave himself up to despair. 

After he had recovered from his sickness he remained 
a prisoner among these Indians for a year, and endm'ed 
many hardships. They made him an abject slave, and 
compelled him to endure every kind of severe labor and 
submit to the harshest treatment. Among other duties 
that devolved upon him was digging roots from under 
the water and among the canes. This occupation tore 
his fingers and the broken canes lacerated his body. His 
life became such a burden that he determined to make his 
escape and join a tribe called Charruco, wliich inhabited 
the forests and country of the main-land. He succeeded 
in reaching these latter Indians, where his condition was 
changed for the better. 

Vaca remained with these people nearly six years, from 
the summer of 1528 to sometime in the year 1533. In 
all this time he went without clothing and conformed in 
every respect to the manners and customs of the Indians. 
He followed the occupation of a pedlar, or trader, which 
enabled him to obtain plenty of food and command good 
treatment. In liis trading excursions he was allowed to 
travel some forty or fifty leagues along the coast and as 
far into the interior as lie pleased. He traveled from 
tribe to tribe at pleasure, which was a great convenience 



•58 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MKXICO. 

to tlie Lidians, as they could not cany on their traffic in 
time of war. He principally carried into the interior sea- 
snails and their cones, conchos, and a fruit like a bean, 
used for medicine, sea-beads, and other articles ; and in 
return brought back skins, ochre with which they colored 
their faces, Hints for arrow heads, cement, canes for ar- 
rows, and tassels made of deer-skins, ornamented and 
dyed red. He was treated with kindness wherever he 
, went, and the Indians gave him food in exchange for his 
wares. In the course of time he became a person of such 
great importance in all the surrounding country that his 
acquaintance vras sought for ,the reputation he enjoyed. 
In imitation of the Indian custom he ceased from his 
labors during the winter months, and retired with them 
to their huts and villages and led an inactive life. His 
leading object in traveling 'back and forth through the 
country was to become well acquainted with it and the 
people, so that in case lie sheuld attempt to escape the 
knowled";e would be of advantao;e to him. 

It will be borne in mind that wlien Dorantes and Cas- 
tillo made their escape from .the island of Malhado they 
left two Spaniards behind, sick, Ovieda and Alaniz, the 
latter of whom died soon after, the former getting well 
and remaining upon the island. The reason Vaca re- 
mained so long among the Charrncos, was to enable 
Ovieda to make his escape, and for this purpose he made 
him a visit every year to persuade him to cross over to 
the main-land. At each annual visit Ovieda promised 
him tliat he would certainly accompany him the next 
year, but when the time arrived his resolution failed him. 
At last, after much persuasion, he induced him to leave 
the island, and as he was not able. to swim Vaca .crossed 
him over in a canoe- 



THE CONQ.U-EST OF NEW MEXICO. 50 

Having reached the main in safety, after some slight 
preparations they started on their escape, following the 
coast toward the West. They traveled in company with 
some Indians until they had crossed -four large rivers, 
when they came to a deep bay a league in width, which 
was supposed to be the bay of Espiritu Santo. Having 
crossecl the bay in safety they resumed their journey and 
in a short time met witli some Indians of the Quevenes 
nation. This people told the Spaniards there were three 
Christians some distance beyond, the survivors of a con- 
siderable number, the others having either died of hunger 
or cold, or been killed.; that the tribe which held them 
treated them with cruelty. They represented the coun- 
try as very poor, with few inliabitants, who suffered 
much from the cold. They said that those who held the 
three Christians would soon come to eat walnuts upon 
the margin of that river, within a league of where they 
then were, when they would have an opportunity of see- 
ing; them. In confirmation -ef the bad treatment the 
other Ch"ristians received, these savages slapped and beat 
Vaca and liis companion ; aud put their arrows to their 
hearts, saying they were inclined to kill them as they had 
killed their friends. Ovieda became alarmed at these 
hostile demonstrations and desired to return with the 
women who liad crossed the bay with them. A^aca used 
every persuasion he was master of to induce him to con- 
tinue on with him, but it was of no avail ; he returned 
with the women and was never heard of afterward. 

Vaca again found himself alone with the Indians, but 
he determined to persevere in his effort to escape. Two 
days afterward he was informed that those who held his 
countrymen prisoners had come to the place designated 
to eat walnuts. He was-'directed to go to a point of wood 



60 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

whieli the Indians lie was then with must pass on a visit 
to the strangers the next day, when they would take liiin 
along with them. He awaited their coming at the place 
ot* rendezvous, and accompanied them to the camp of the 
'valnut-eating Indians. When they had approached 
within a short distance, Andres Dorantes, who had been 
told that a white man was coming, came out fo meet 
Vaca. The meeting was a happy one, as each had thought 
the other dead, and they mutually returned thanks to 
God I'or having preserved their lives through so many 
^^cissitudes. In a short time he had the pleasure of 
saluting the other captives, Castillo, and Estevanico, a 
Barbary negro, at whose safety he was also much rejoiced. - 
The three Spaniards immediately counseled with each 
other upon a plan of escajje. A'aca told Dorantes that 
he had long entertained the intention of escaping to some 
Christian land, and still intended to do so, if possible. 
The latter had heretofore advised Castillo and the negro 
to the same course, but they had declined making the 
attempt because of their inability to swim the numerous 
l)ays and rivers wliicli intersected the country. But now 
they concluded to escape together. They made their 
arrangements with great secrecy, to prevent their inten- 
tion becoming known to the Indians, who would have 
killed them to prevent their escape. In order to allay 
all suspicion it was deemed advisable to postpone the 
attempt for the space of six months, when the Indians, 
as was their custom, would migrate to another part of the 
country to eat prickly-pears. Here they would meet 
other savao'es who would come there to trade and exchanire 
])ows, with whom they could return if they should succeed 
in eluding the vigilance of their masters. This plan of 
operations being agreed upon, they awaited with deep 



TKE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 6*1. 

anxiety the arrival of the time when thev hoped to be 
able to strike an effectual blow for their deliverance from 
liondage. 

Vaca and Dorantes were given as slaves to tlie same 
Indian who, as well as all his family, was blind of one 
eye. Their master belonged to the tribe called Jilarianes, 
while Castillo was living with the Yeguases who dwelt 
in tlieir vicinity. « 



62 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



• CHAPTJSE VIII. 



THE FATE OF NAKYAEZ, AND THE "WUEREABOITS OF TIBE 
SUKAIVOES. 

BoEANTES and companions related to Yaca what had 
befallen them gince they had left the island of ]Malhado, 
and also -u'luit had happened to others of the Spaniards. 

It Avill be remembered, that when they parted from 
V'aca on the shore of the main-land opposite the island, 
they took their conrse along the coast toward the West. 
Thev had not proceeded far when they found the boat in 
which the friar and cootroller had been wreeked. They 
passed the montlis of four great rivers whose currents 
were so strong that their boats were swept away and car- 
vied out to sea, and four of their number drowned. i In 
the distance of sixty leagues they lost two more of their 
(•ompanions, when they arrived at a large bay. By tliis 
time they were in a starving condition, having eaten 
nothing since their departure but crabs and rock-weed. 
Here they saw Indians eating mulberries, who iled to the 

I From this it would appear tliat they were in boat-s although the 
j')urutil of Vaca is sileut as to Avhat boats they \vere or how they ob- 
taiued them. 



TIIE CONQUEST CF NEW MEXICO. G3 

Opposite side of the cape upon their approach. While 
the}'' were contriving some means of crossing the bay an 
Indian and a Spaniard approached them, the latter being 
recognized as one of the party who had been sent forward 
from the island of Mallitido in search of the Pannco, of 
the name of Figueroa. He related that two of his com- 
panions had died from cold and hunger, and the third 
been killed, whijfe he was a captive among the Quevenes. 
Here he- met with Hernando de Esqnivel, a survivor of 
the commissary's boat, who was a prisoner to the Mari- 
anas, and from whom Vaca learned the fate of the gov- 
ernor and the remainder of the Spaniards not before 
accounted for. 

When the boat of Narvaez became separated from tlio 
others, as before related, he continued to coast along the 
shore toward the West. He came up with the crew of 
the controller's boat, w;hicli had been upsot at the con- 
fluence of the rivers, and carried them across to the main- 
land. The latter continued their course by land, while 
the governor held on by water. Soon they ciime to a 
large bay across whicli he conveyed the crew of the con- 
troller's boat. Here they stopped for tlie night, the 
whole party encamping upon the sliore, with the exception 
of Narvaez and a page who remained in his boat. It was 
anchored with a stone and was thought to be secure ; but 
in the night a heavy North wind began to blow wdiich 
drove them out to sea, and they were never heard of 
afterward. The survivors continued along the shore on 
foot, making rafts upon which they crossed the rivers and 
bays they encountered in their course. Being now the 
month of November and cold VN^eather about to set in, 
they deemed it advisable to select a 8uital)le place for M-in- 
ter-quarters. They fixed upon a piece of timber on the 



6^ THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

])ank of a river, wood and water being both convenient, 
and crabs and sliell-fisli near at band. Here tbey pitched 
arude camp and prepared to spend the winter. The}' 
began to sicken and die soon after tliej encamped, and 
l>y tlie 1st of March but one of their number was ahve. 
Their supply of food failed them, and they suffered to the 
last extremity from hnnger and cold ; and they were so 
near starvation that the living were obBged to dry and 
eat the llesh of the dead to sustain lit^. To add to their 
other troubles a quarrel took place between Soto Mayor 
and Pantoja, the lieutenant, which resulted in the death 
of the latter. The last survivor was Esquivel, who main- 
tained life upon the dead body of a companion until he 
was taken l)y a party of Indians, with whom he remained 
sometime, when he met with Figueroa as before related. 

Of the four hundred men who had sailed from Spain 
for the conquest of -Florida but few remained alive and 
they were captives in the hands of the Indians. Figueroa 
and one other Spaniard soon aferward succeeded in mak- 
ing, their escape, while Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, Este- 
vanico and two others remained and prevailed upon the 
Quevenes to accept them as slaves. In the service of 
this tribe they were very badly treated, and the Indians, 
among other things, amused themselves in pulling out 
their beard. They killed three out of the six without 
any cause. Dorantes, fearing he would meet the same 
fate, made his escape to the jMarianes, among whom 
Esquivel had been a prisoner. These people informed 
him how they had put the latter to death, because he tried 
'to run away on account of a woman dreaming that her 
son would kill him, and in confirmation showed him ar- 
. tides that had belonged to Esquivel. 

These Indians took life according' to custom and nnt 



TIIE 'CONQUEST OF ^ESY MEXICO. 65 

vtliat tliej were blood-thirsty by nature, and they cast 
away tlieir cliildren because of dreams. They had a 
custom of destroying their daughters at birth, and also 
permitting the dogs to devour them, fearing their enemies 
might raise up children from them and thus become strong- 
enough to enslave thcni. It is said they even preferred 
to destroy them to marrying them among their own peo- 
ple. The only two tribes who practiced this custom were 
the iilarianes and the Yeguases. The men bought theii- 
wives of their enemies, and the price paid was a bow and 
two arrows, or a net a fathom in length and another in 
breadth. The married state continued during the will of 
the pai'ties. They also killed their male children and 
bou^'ht others of strangers. 

Castillo and Estevanico made their escape inland to the 
tribe of the Yeguases. These people were of fine sym- 
metry and good archers, and had the custom of boring 
the nose and one nipple. Tliey lived on roots, spiders, 
the eggs of ants, lizards, snakes, and other reptiles and 
insects. They killed a few deer and caught some fish, 
the bones of which they reduced to a powder and ate for 
food. Provisions were scarce and they suffered greatly 
from hunger. They obliged the old men and old women, 
who were little esteemed among them, to carry all the 
burdens ; the v/omen did nearly all the hard work and 
were only allowed six hours rest in twenty-four. The 
roots were baked in ovens, and it was the duty of the 
^vomen to heat them, vv^hich occupied part of each night.s 



•-■ I am informed b}'- a gentleman, long a resident of Tesas, that the 
Indians upon the Trinity river live upon roots much in the same man • 
ner as those spoken of by Vaca. They dig them from under the water, 
and prepare them for food by drying them iu the sun, after which .they 
are reduced to powder and made into cakes. 
.5 



66 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Tliey began to dig tlie roots, bring wood and water, and 
to do other necessary labor at snnrise. They also roasted 
the roots, which reqnired two days. These Indians were 
generally great liars and thieves. They made a kind of 
liqnor npon which they became intoxicated. 

They were fleet rnnners and could run down a deer, 
in which manner they frequently caught them. Their 
lodges were made of mats placed upon hoops, and they 
often changed their locality when in search of food. 
They planted nothing. They were a cheerful and merry 
people, and even amid the season of greatest hunger they 
did not fail to observe their festivities and ceremonies. 
Their happiest time was while gathering the prickh'-pear^ 
wdien their hunger being satisfied for a time, they feasted 
and danced day and night. They prepared the pear for 
food by squeezing it open and drying it in the sun, and 
the skin they beat into a powder.s The country swarmed 
with mosquitoes, whose bite was poisonous. These iu- 
sects were a source of great annoyance to the Spaniards, 
and in order to protect themselves from them they were 
in the habit of encircling their sleeping place with a fire 
kindled with rotten wood so as to make a dense smoke 
without much flame. In the winter the Indians rid 
themselves of the mosquitoes by firing the plains and 
forests, which at the same time drove away lizards, snakerf 
and other reptiles. They killed deer hj surrounding 
them with fire, and they burned the pasturage of the l^uf- 
lalo in order to oblige them to seek fresh grazing in more 

/ 3 The prickly-pear is the fruit of a species of the Maguey or the 
Agave Americana, and is found more or less abundant in most parts 
of New Mexico and Texas, and particularly upon the extensive plains 
that traverse these countries. It is not unpleasant to the taste, and the 
juice is quite refreshing in time of thirst. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 67 

convenient localities. Tlioy always pitclied their camp 
close to wood and water; and when they went ont to 
hunt deer they were obliged to carry with them a snpply 
of these two necessary articles, as they did not abound in 
the haunts of this animal. They made hunting excursions 
two or three times a year, and thus, at intervals, were 
able to appease their pressing hunger ; but at other times 
they sufi'ered a good deal for food. While out hunting 
they were very much annoyed by mosrpaitoes, which A^aca 
says were equal to the "holy plagues of Lazarus." 

In speaking of the cattle the Spaniards encountered in 
tJieir wanderings through the country, Vaca gives the 
foUovnng account : " Cattle come as far as this. I have 
seen them three times and eaten of their meat. I think 
they are about the size of those of Spain. They have 
small horns like those of ]!iIorocco, and the hair long and 
llocky like that of the merino. Some are light brown 
(pardillas) and others black. To my judgment the flesh 
is finer and sweeter than that of this country. The In- 
dians make blankets of those tliat are not full grown, and 
of tlie larger they make shoes and bucklers. They come 
as far as the sea-coast of Florida, and in a direction from 
the North, and range over a district of more than four 
hundred leagues. In the whole extent of plain over 
^vhich they roam, the people who live bordering upon it 
descend and kill them for food, and thus a great many 
skins are scattered throughout the country."* 

i The cattle here mentioned were buffaloes, ■which rofimed over all 
ihe great central region of North America ; and their tracks have been 
seen as far South and South-east as the Withlacooche river. This fact 
is mentioned b}^ Komans. This istlie earliest mention of the buffalo 
by any writer. 



68 'THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER IX, 



now VACA AND HIS COMPANIONS ESCAPE FPOM THE INDIANS* 

The period of six montlis, during which the Spaniards 
had agreed among themselves to remain with the Indians 
before attempting to escape, had now elapsed, and the 
time approached to jDut their plans into execution. Their 
masters, as was customary, went to a place about 
twenty leagues distant to gather pears ; and the Christians 
having made the Necessary preparations were on the 
point of making their escape, when a circnmstance 
occurred Avhich prevented them for the present. The 
Indians quarreled among themselves about a woman and 
fell to beating and kicking each other with great severity : 
and finally their hostility ran so high that each one took 
his lodge and went into some other part of the country, 
which separated the Spaniards and thus put an end io 
their hopes for a time. 

This course of events obliged the captives to remain 
with the Indians another year, Vaca relates that lie spent 
a very hard life ; was often beaten and otherwise abused 
by those who held him ; to escape this cruel treatment 
lie ran away three times, but upon each occasion he was 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. GO 

pursued find brought back. The next year the different 
bands of Indians with whom the Spaniards lived met at 
the usual place of resort, to eat prickly-pears. Again 
they had completed their arrangements to escape, when 
the savages suddenly separated and returned to their re- 
spective homes, thus a second time thwarting their plans. 
Vaca now determined to make his escape at all hazards, 
and before he separated from his companions he advised 
them of his intention. He told them he would remain. 
^vith the Indians until the moon was full, when, if they 
did not join him, he would escape alone. At the time 
specified, being the loth of September, he was joined by 
Andres Dorantes and Estevanico, who had encountered 
numerous obstacles in meeting liim at the time agreed 
upon. Castillo was not able to join them at that time, as 
lie could not elude his captors. But in a few days he made 
Iiis escape and came to the place where his companioiis 
then were. They had joined another tribe, meanwhile, 
with whom the Indians, who had previously held him, had 
made peace. Vaca learned, from this people, of another 
tribe who lived upon the coast, named Camones, who 
were said to have killed Peilalosa and Tellez, whose fate 
they were ignorant of. To satisfy them such was the 
case, the Indians showed liim some of the arms and 
clothing that had belonged to them. 

The sm'vivors of this unfortunate expedition, four in 
number, now found themselves united, preparatory to at- 
tempting theu' escape — their comrades either having met 
a watery grave, been killed by the savages, or died of 
disease and starvation. The Indians now changed 
their camp and moved to another part of the country. 
The Spaniards remained with them one day afterward, 
when they eluded their vigilance and took to fliglit, trust- 



70 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

ing to God to guide and direct tliem.i It was late in tlie 
season and the pricklj-pears had nearly disappeared, but 
they hoped, with the few that remained and the mast to 
be found in the wood, they would be able to subsist while 
they traveled over a large district of country. They 
Imrried on with speed all day fearing lest the Indians 
should pursue and recapture them. Toward evening 
they saw smoke in the distance, and espied an Indian who 
turned and fled. The negro was sent in pursuit, when 
he halted until he was overtaken. On being told the 
Christians were in search of the people who made the 
smoke, he said his village was near by and conducted 
them to it. They were received with great kindness and 
were lodged in the houses of two physicians. This tribe 
was called Avavares, and although they spoke a diiferent 
language the Spaniards were able to converse with them 
in the tongue of tlie IMarianes. They used to trade with 
their former masters, and among other things supplied 
them witli bones. They had arrived witli their lodges 
that day, and as soon as they were- informed of the pres- 
ence of the Spaniards, and the cures they could eifcct, 
they brought them a great many pears. 

1 It is a task of no slight difficulty to trace the route of Vaca and his 
companions across the continent from the meagre, and often unreliable, 
data wc have at hand. The history of the Southern portion of the 
United States is the least reliable of any part of the Union ; and for 
many years little, if anj'-, addition that throws light upon the earliest 
explorations, has been made to it. There is no doubt that Vaca passed 
through a portion of New Mexico in his route, though it is impossible 
to say how far North he came. Formerly the Southern boundary of 
New.Mexico was much further South than at this time, nearly as low 
down as the mouth of the Conchos, which empties into the Rio del 
Norte. In making up the notes, in reference to Vaca's wanderings, 
I am much indebted to the copious notes accompanying Mr. Bucking- 
ham Smith's translation of his journal. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 71 

9 

During tlie night some Indians went to Castillo and 
told liim tliey had a pain in the head and requested him 
to cure it. He made over them a sign of the cross and 
commended them to Clod, M-hen the}^ said they were 
well. The Indians furnished them with the best food 
the country afibrded, and among other things brought 
them a piece of venison. When it became known 
through the village how they could cure the sick, a large 
number flocked to them, each one carrying a piece of 
venisoii as a fee. The Spaniai-ds deemed it advisable to 
resume their practice, and all to whom they administered 
immediately recovered ; in commemmoration of which the 
Indians held feastings and rejoicings for three days. They 
m'ade inquiries about the country beyond, and the means 
of living it afforded ; and upon learning tliat it vras unin- 
habited, and that there were few pears at that season of 
the year, they resolved to spend the winter with this 
tribe. 

In a few days they accompanied tlie Indians in search 
of pears to a place Vv'here they expected to meet several 
tribes speaking diiierent languages. In a journey of five 
days they arrived at a river, without having seen any 
pears on the way, on the bank of which the_y put up their 
lodges, and went in search of a fruit that resembled a pea. 
In wandering about the vv^ood Yaca became separated 
from his companions and was lost for five days. He was 
entirely naked, and as the weather was cold he suffered a 
great deal. He passed the first night in the warmth of a 
burning tree, and the remaining nights he spent in the 
low bottoms near the streams. As there were no sticks 
in many parts of the wood, he carried a load alwaj's on 
his l)ack, to kindle a fire when necessary. He dug a hole 
hi the ground around which he built four fires in the form 



72 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXISO. 

• 

of a cross, and then crept into tlie hole and covered him- 
self with grass. One night the grass caught on lire and 
he came near being burned to death, and only escaped 
with several severe burns. During the time he was Iqst 
he did not taste food of any kind, and his feet became so 
lacerated and torn that they l>led profusely. He reached- 
the bank of the river where the Indians and his com- 
panions were encamped on the afternoon of the liftli day. 
They rejoiced at his return, as they had supposed him 
lost. The next day they changed their location and 
pitched their lodges at a place where there was a great 
(juantity of pears, with which tliey satisfied their pressing 
hunger. 

The following day some Indians brought five sick per- 
sons to the camp and besought Castillo to cure tliem, 
offering him bows and arrows. At sunset he pronounced 
:i blessing over the sick, and all the Christians joined in 
prayer to God, asking Him to restore them to health ; 
and by the next morning they v/ere all as well as though 
they had never been sick. This event had a beneficial 
influence upon the Indians, and at the same time im- 
pressed the Spaniav'ds themselves with a belief that tlic 
blessings of God vrere resting upon them, which increased 
their hope of escape. All the sick having been restored, 
the Indians again moved their lodges to a point where 
otliers were encamped eating prickly-pears. Here were 
found assembled various tribes, sucli as the Cutalches, 
3ialicones, Coayes, Lusolas and the Atayos. War was 
existing between the two latter nations and they exchanged 
arrow shots daily. 

Two days after their arrival some of the Lusolas Indi- 
ans came to the Spaniards and besought Castillo to go 
with them to their lodsres to cure their sick and wounded, 



THE CONQUEST OF KEW IMEXICO. i 6 

one of whom was near his end. But being timid- in 
the practice of liis new profession he clechned to go, 
and Vaca went in his phice, accompanied by Estevanico. 
When they arrived at the lodges they found a man to 
all appearance dead ; his eyes vrcre set and ho was 
v.'ithout pulse. His lodge had been pulled down, as 
■was the custom of his tril^e, and his friends were weeping 
around liim.2 Vaca removed the mat which covered 
liim, breathed upon him and supplicated the Lord to 
restore him to health. The man afterward recovered. 
His getting w^ell was esteemed a great miracle, and the 
Indians gazed upon the Spaniards with wonder and fear.. 
iill the sick who v/ere treated in like manner recovered : 
and Vaca was rewarded with a basket of pears and the 
bow of the man who "was so dangerously ill. This re- 
covery raised the fame of the Spaniards among all the tribes 
and they were requested to visit their lodges and bless 
their children. ' When the Cutalchiches were about to 
return to their own country they gave the Christians all 
tlie pears they had gathered, and some flints, five inches 
in length, which v/ere used for cutting and were of liigli 
value among the Indians. When they separated they 
begged Vaca and his companions to re;nember them and 
pray to God that they might always be well, wliich they 
promised to do. 

2 A similar custom to this prevails among the Nabojo ludians of New 
Mexico, vrho either burn or puU down the ledge ia which, a persca 
dies. 



74 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE SPANIARDS CONTINUE TUEIR JOURNEY, AND THE IVEOi'LE 
THEY MET. 

The Spaniards remained with tlie Avavjires ciglit 
months, during which time the Indians from all parts of 
the country brought their sick to them to be healed. By 
this time Dorantes and Esteyanico also began to practice 
medicine, but they' were not sucli bold practitioners as 
A'aca. The Indians called them the children of the sini, 
and so great was their confidence of their power to heal 
the sick that they belieyed none would die while tliey 
remained with them. The practice of each one had the 
same effect upon the patient and the sayages said that all 
who \\ev3 treated by them recovered. The inhabitants 
of tlie country, through which they had l)een trayeling 
since their escape, related to them a remarkable circum- 
stance wliicli they said had taken place several years 
l)efore, and wliicli is given as Vaca relates it : 

" They said that a man wandered through that country 
called Bad-Thing ; that he was small of body and had 
1)eard, but they never could distinctly see his features. 
"Wiien he came to the house where they were their hair 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. lb 

•stood up and tliey treml)led. Presently there slione at 
the door of the house a blazing torch, and then he entered 
and seized whom he chose of them, and giving him three 
great gashes in the side with a very sharp flint, the width 
of the hand and two palms in length, he put his hand 
through and drew forth the entrails, from one of wliich 
he would cut off a portion more or less tlie length of a 
palm and would throw it on the embers. Then he would 
give three gashes to an arm, and the second cut on the 
inside of the elbow and would sever the limb. A little 
after this he would begin to unite it, and putting his hands 
upon the wounds these would instantly become healed. 
They said that oftentimes, while they danced, he appeared 
timong them in the dress of a woman, and at others in 
that of a man ; that when it pleased him he would take 
np a buhio, or house, and lifting it high after a little while 
he y/ould c'->me down with it with a heavy fall. They 
also told us that many times they offered him victuals, 
but that he never ate ; that they asked him whence he 
came and wliere was his home, and he showed them a 
Assure in the earth and 'said that ]iis house was there 
below. These things that they told us of we much laughed 
at and ridiculed ; and tliey, seeing that we did iiot believe 
them, brought to us many of those they said he had seized, 
a7id we saw the marks of the gashes he had made in tlie 
places according to the manner they had described. We. 
told them that he was an evil one, and, in the best way 
we could, we gave them to understand that, if they would 
Itelieve in God, our Lord, and become Christians like tis, 
they would have no fears of him, nor would he dare to 
come and inflict upon them these injuries ; and that they 
might be certain that while we remained in the land he 
vrould not dare to appear in it. At this they v^ere de- 



76 , THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

liglited and lost mucli of their dread." These Indians- 
gave them inform ation of two others of their companions, 
the Astnrian and Figueroa, who were said to be captives 
among a tribe further along the coast called the People 
of the Figs, los de los higos. 

Vaca fomid all tlie natives whoin he encountered in the 
greatest possible state of ignorance and destitution. They 
had no reckoning by the sun or moon, but by the return 
of the seasons, as. when "the fruit come to ripen and the 
lish to die." They were well treated by all the tribes. 
Their houses were built in the same manner as those of 
the Yeguases : but there was neither maize, acorns nor 
juits in the country. The Spaniards went naked like the 
Indians during the day and and night covered themselves 
with skins. While they remained with this tribe they 
• suffered a good deal for the want of food. In the spring 
when the pears began to ripen Vaca and the negro, with- 
out the knowledge or consent of the Indians, visited 
another tribe called ]?iIaliacones, a day's journey further 
on. In three days tliey sent for Castillo and Dorantes, 
who joined them. The Indians they were now witli 
broke up tlieir camp and went into another section of the 
country to cat the small fruit of a tree upon which they 
were in the liabit of subsisting for ten or twelve days while 
the pears were coming to maturity. On the way they were 
joined by a tribe called the Arbadaos, a weak and miser- 
able race, with whom the Spaniards remained when the 
Maliacones returned to their own country. Here they 
were treated v/itli the same unvarying kindness. They 
shared with the Spaniards the best they had, which, 
however, was scanty enough. Here they suffered more 
for food than at any time since their escape. They had 
not more than two handfuls of pears a day and but little 



THE COKQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 77 

water. Thej traded for two dogs, wliicli tliej- devoured 
with great relish. Vaca says that going naked caused 
them to shed their skin twice a year like serpents. They 
tore their tiesh in passing through the wood and bushes, 
and exposure to the sun and air covered their bodies with 
sores. They were obliged to carry heavy loads of wood 
upon their backs and the cords which bound it on cut into 
their flesh. The Indians kept them employed a good 
deal of their time in scraping and softening skins ; and 
Vaca relates that then was his greatest prosperity, for he 
preserved the scrapings of the" skins which lasted him for 
food t wo or three days. When meat v/as given them 
they ate it raw, because they had been accustomed to it, 
and it was easier of digestion. Even if they had wished 
to cook it they dared not trust it upon the fire, as the 
first Indian who came along would steal it. The savages 
devoted their whole time to hunting food, -which was 
necessary in order to obtain suflicient quantity to keep 
themseilves from suffering with hunger. 

The Spaniards having regained a little of their strength 
after eating the two dogs determined to prosecute their 
journey.i They took leave of the Indians and set out, 
traveling the first day througli a severe storm of rain, 
Tliey stopped at night in a large wood, and before goino- 
to sleep they built an oven and put peas into it to bake, 
wliich they found well cooked in tlie morning. These 
they ate for breakfast and then resumed their v/anderino-s. 
Having passed the wood they came in sight of huts, near 
which they saw two women and some boys, who fled upon 
their approach. Vaca called to them when they came to 

1 When Vaca and his compauions started inland from the sea-coast 
they most probably took a direction nearly North-west until they- 
're ached the great plains. 



78 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

liim with timidity, but after tlieir fears had passed away 
they conducted tliein to their village, where they arrived 
at evening. The village contained fifty huts. The in- 
habitants were astonished at the sight of white men, and 
passed their hands over their faces and bodies and then. 
over their own. 

The next morning the Indians brought their sick to 
them to be cured and blessed. They treated the Spani- 
ards with great kindness, and even robbed themselves of 
food that they might give it to them. They staid several 
days with this tribe, and in ' the meantime other Indians 
from beyond came to the village on a visit. When tlie 
latter returned to their own country the Spaniards accom- 
])anied them, much against the wish of their late hosts, 
whom they left weeping at their departure. They used 
every endeavor to persuade them to stay, but they were 
too anxious to continue on their journey to remain. 

From the island of Malhado to the country wherein 
the Spaniards now found themselves the inhabitants had 
the same general manners and customs. The husband 
did not cohal^it with the wife from the time she became 
pregnant until two years after she had given birth ; and 
on accoimt of the scarcity of provisions they suckled their 
children until twelve years of age, when they were con- 
sidered old enough to support themselves. When they 
traveled in the desert, if one fell sick they left him Ijehind 
to perish, miless it were a son or brother, whom they 
^vould carry upon their backs. It was the custom of men 
who were childless to leave their wives at pleasure and 
unite themselves with other women ; but when they had 
children they never abandoned their wives. When they 
fought among themselves the men never resorted to tlie 
bow and arrow, but they beat each otlier ^vith their fists : 



THE CONQUEST CF JsEW MEXICO. 79 

and when they had ceased fighting both parties retired to 
their huts or the wood, wdiere they remained nntil tlieir 
anger had subsided, when they returned and made friends 
again. If unmarried persons quarreled they went to some 
neighboring tribe, where they remained some time before 
returning to tlieir own people. Even their enemies re- 
<'eived them kindly upon such occasions, and they returned 
home loaded with presents* 



80 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO, 



CHAPTER XI, 



«OME ACCOUNT OF THE MANNT.KS AND CUSTOMS Or VARIOUS 

TRIBES. 

The varions tribes of Indians the Spaniards met to tliir 
time were martial in their dispc^sition and well skilled in 
tlie arts of savage warlare. When encamped near an 
enany, or where there was a probability of being attacked, 
they pitched their lodges upon the skirts of the most 
tangled-wood, and dug a ditch near by in which they 
slept, covered with sticks, loop-holed. They prepared n 
plac3 in the wood for the women and children to sleep 
away from the lodges. , At night they kindled fires in 
the lodges, so that if the enemy should come to make an 
attack tliey would assault them, thinking the Indians were 
there, v>'hen the warriors vrould rush from the ditches and 
take them by surprise. ^Vhen they could not take shelter 
in a wood they surrounded themselves with trendies from 
behind which they, discharged their arrows. AVJiile Vac;i 
was among a tribe called Aguenes their enemies made ^a 
sudden attack upon them at midnight, killing three, 
wounding several others and driving them from their 
lodges into the fields. About daylight, and ^after they 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 81 

'■Had returned to their lodges, the enemy made a second 
attack. They were again taken by* surprise ; had five 
killed and several wounded, and were a second time 
driven from their lodges, with the loss of all their prop- 
erty. In a little while the wives of the Quevenes came 
as ambassadors and made a treaty of peace, when the two 
tribes became friendly again. When Indians who were 
.not of the same family had personal enmities they assas- 
sinated at night by lying in wait, and committed gross 
barbarities upon each other. 

They were always watchful and on the alert in time of 
danger, and when in fear of an enemy they slept with a 
bow and a dozen arrows by their side, keeping the bow 
strung. During the niglit they ran out of their lodges 
and crept about bent down to the ground so that they 
could not be seen, and thus watched upon all sides. If 
they discovered any object they took to the bushes with 
their bows and arrows where they remained until daylight, 
constantly running about and searching where the sup- 
posed enemy was to be found. They now unbent their 
bows until they went out to hunt. Their bow-strings 
were made of tlie sinews of the deer. When they fonght 
they laid close to the ground and kept constantly moving 
about while discharging their arrcv/s, and thus received 
l)ut little harm from the enemy. When they exhausted 
their arrows in battle each one returned his own way, 
never following in each other's footsteps. 

A'aca mentions the following nations they passed 
tln-ough, viz : " I also desire to enumerate the nations 
and tongues that exist from the island of Malhado to the 
furtliest limit. In the island of Malhado there are two 
languages ; the people of the one are called Coaques, 
those of the other Ho.n. On the terra firma over against 



€•2 THE CONQUEST OF XEW MEXICO. 

the island is another people called Chorriico, who talvt? 
their name from the forests where thej live. Advancing 
by the shore of the sea others inhabit who are called 
Doguenes, and in the rear of them others of the name of 
jMendica. Further along tlie coast are the Qoevenes, and 
after them, in tlie interior, the Marianes ; and continuing 
by the coast are others called the Guaycones ; and behind 
them, inland, the Yeguases. Back of them are the Atoyos ; 
and in their rear others the Acubadaos, and beyond them 
are many on the same path. By the coast also live those 
called Quitoles and l>ehind, in the interior, are tiie Ava- 
vares, to whom adjoin the JMaliacones, the Cutalchiches, 
and others called Susoles and the Comos ; and by the 
coast further on are the Camoles ; and on the same coast, 
in advance, are those whom we call Ij08 de los Iligos, the 
people of the figs."i 

Tliese various tribes inhabited Imts and lived in vil- 
lages built in different ways. Each tribe spoke a sepa- 
rate language, although some of them understood tlie 
languages of their neighbors^ They stupiiied themselves 
with smoke, which they considered so great a luxury that 
they would 53,01-11106 anything to enjoy it. They made u 
tea from the leaves of a tree that resembled the oak. 
They lirst toasted the leaves in a pot, and after they were 

1 Mr. Smith, in bis translation, makes the following note of the vaii- 
0U3 tribes Vaca traveled among, viz : 

" The Cayoques or Capoques may have been the Cadoqnes. Charle- 
voix writes of the Coaquias as a tribe of the Illinois. lie found them 
in the winter of 1721 re-united to tho Tamarouas, a kindred tribe, com- 
posing the inhabitants of a populous town on the Eastern bank of the 
Missouri. Lettre xxviii, p. p. 392-S. Other names are suggestive in 
their sounds, of other nations ; the Aguenes of the AgerouGS or Inies, 
the Charrnco of the Challakee, the Guaycones of the Tawakones re- 
sidincT on the river "Wachta."' 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 83 

well parched the pot was tilled with water and twice 
boiled when the liquid was poured into a jar to cool. 
They drank it as soon as it was covered with a thick 
froth, and as hot as thej could bear it. The color of the 
liquid was yellow, and while boiling the pot was carefully 
covered ; but if it happened to be open when a woman 
passed by they threw the tea away. They drank this 
tea for three days and a half, and each one drank daily 
an arroba and a half, equal to about four and a half gal- 
lons, wine measure. It was their custom to cry aloud, 
from the time it was taken from the pot until it was used: 
" Who wishes to drink ?" Vaca says : " When the women 
hear these cries they instantly stop without daring to 
move ; and although they be heavily loaded they dare do 
nothing further. Should one of them move they dis- 
honor her and beat her with sticks, and, greatly vexed, 
they throw away the liquor they have prepared ; while 
they who have drunk void it, which they do readily and 
without pain. They give a reason for the usage, that 
when they are about to drink, if the women move from 
where they hear the cry something malign enters the 
body in that liquid and causes them shortly to die." 

It was the custom among these tribes fur men to live 
with others who were emasculate and impotent, who were 
dressed like women and performed their labors ; and they 
also used the bow and arrow, and carried heavy burdens. 
There were many seen in this condition among them. 
They were more muscular and taller than other men and 
bore burdens of great weight. 

We last took leave of Vaca and his companions as they 
were about bidding farewell to the Arbadaos, who wept 
at their departure. They left M^ith the strange Indians 
who had come to visit them and accompanied them to- 



84 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

their country. They were well received and kindly 
treated ; and, according to custom, the children were 
l;)roiio;ht to them to be blessed. Amonsr the food siven 
them to eat was a flom* made of tlie fruit of a tree called 
Mezquiquez, which was of a sweet and pleasant taste, and 
wholesome. It was prepared in the following manner : 
They dug a hole in the ground into which they placed 
the fruit and pounded it until well mashed ; when they 
put the mixture into ajar and poured water upon it until 
it was covered. They next put earth in the jar and 
stirred it Avith the mixture until of the proper sweetness. 
To eat it they sat around the jar and each one put in 
liis hands and took out as much as he wanted. The pits 
atid skins of the fruit were pounded a second and third 
time until all the juice was extracted. It was their cus- 
tom to make great banquets upon this preparation, when 
they gorged themselves with it. They made a feast for 
the Spaniards, accompanied by great dances and cere- 
5nonies, which lastsd several days. Among other marks 
of respect with which they were treated a gnard of six 
men was stationed by each one while he slept at night, 
and no person was permitted to approach them until the 
sun was up.2 

After they had lived with these people for some time, 
they were visited by the women of the tribe which inhaK 
•ited a countrj^ further on, with whom Vaca proposed to 

2 This, most probably, was the fruit of the Mesquit tree, which is 
found growing in New Mexico, but is not -seen until we approach the 
Rio del Norte, going West. The Indians make it into a kind ot bread, 
and also distil from it a liquor which they are very fond of. The tree 
'bears a pod in the shape of a bean, which is sweet to the taste. Mr. 
Smith is of the opinion that the fruit referred to is that of the sweet 
locust, but at this time the Spaniards must have been inthe Mesquit 
countrj', and further West than the locust-tree grows. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.. 85 

jeturn, though much against the will of the Indians. The 
women pointed out to the Spaniards the direction they 
should take to reach their village, when, after bidding 
farewell to their late hosts, they started off in search of 
it. There being no paths they soon became lost, and 
wandered about four leagues out of their way, when they 
were overtaken by the women who now became their 
guides. They traveled until sun-set, when they arrived 
at the village, which consisted of one hundred habitations. 
On their way they crossed a large and rapid river, the 
water coming up breast high. When near the village 
the inhabitants came out to welcome them, yelling as 
loud as they could and striking the palms of their hands 
against their thighs. Many of them carried gourds bored 
with holes and pebble stones in them, Avhich were held 
in very great veneration' and were only brought out on. 
important occasions. They attributed to them wonderful 
virtues, and made use of them to effect cures. They told 
the Spaniards they grev; in Heaven and were washed 
down to their country by the river. 

The appearance of the strangers caused great excite- 
ment in the village, and the Indians were so anxious to 
touch them that they almost crushed them in the effort. 
They took them up in their arms and carried them into 
their houses, where a crowd of people constantly pressed 
upon them. The savages were so inuch rejoiced at their 
arrival, that they passed the entire night in dancing and 
rejoicing. They wished to perform some j^ersonal 
ceremony over their guests, but Vaca declined this 
honor. The next day the whole population presented 
themselves and requested to be touched and blessed by 
them, in the same manner they had done others through, 
whose country they passed. 



86 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Vaca remained at this village two days when he took 
liis departure, accompanied bj all the inhabitants who 
escorted him to the village of the next adjoining tribe. 
The latter were equally well pleased to see the Spaniards, 
and gave them the same friendly welcome, furnishing 
them with the best provisions they had, including a part 
of a deer killed that day. The sick and the afflicted were 
brought to them to be healed, and were sent away 
rejoicing. Among other customs was that of those who 
came to be cured giving their bows and arrows, shoes and 
beads to the Indians who accompanied Vaca and his 
companions. Their general direction of travel, at this 
time, was a little North of West. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. £7 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE SPANIARDS AGAIN EESUME THEIR JOURNEY AND WHAl' 
THEY SAW. 

The Spaniards resume their wanderings. Setting out 
from the village mentioned at the close of the last chapter, 
they continued their journey across river and plain 
through numerous tribes of nameless Indians, with a 
crowd ever at their heels. -Among others they came to 
a people vv^ho dwelt in a great number of fixed dwellings. 
They were of fiiirer complexion than''any they had yet 
seen, but were mostly clouded of one eye and many were 
entirely blind.i Here they observed a new and singular 
custom which prevailed among many tribes they after- 
ward visited. AVhen they arrived at a village the Indians 
who accompanied them inmiediately began to pillage and 
ransack the houses, and to appropriate to themselves 
everything they could lay their hands on. Vaca became 

1 The story has its parallel. The following passage is from a traveler 
who was at a town of the Shoccories, in the year 1701 : " Most of these 
Indians have but one eye ; but what mischance or quarrel has 
bereaved them of the other, I could not learn." New voyage to Caro- 
lina, &c., byJohnLawsou, Gent., Surveyor General of North Caroling. 
London, 1.709. Buckingham Smith's note on Yaca's journal. 



88 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

alarmed at this proceeding, feai-iug that it would bring 
himself and companions into difficulty ; but he was assured 
by the inhabitants that they were so much pleased at 
seeing him they considered their goods well-disposed of, 
and that further on there were rich people from whom 
they would be able to repay themselves. This custom 
appears to have been a system of reciprocal plundering, 
each tribe, in turn, depredating upon its neighbor. The 
whole population came to the Spaniards to be blessed. 

The appearance of the country now changed. The broad 
plains, covered with a rich carpet of grass interspersed 
with flowers, gave way to a more uneven surface, and 
serrated peaks of mountains could be seen in the distance. 
When lirst discovered they appeared to be about iiiteeu 
leagues off, and upon information obtained from the 
Indians the Spaniards believed them to run from the- 
North sea. They took the direction of the mountains, 
guided by the Indians, who conducted them through the 
country of their friends, as they were not willing their 
enemies should enjoy the sight of such wonderful beings. 
They soon arrived among another people, whom their 
guides began to plunder ; but, as the custom was well 
understood, the inhabitants bad taken the precaution to 
conceal some things so as not to be stripped entirely bare. 
The Spaniards received a friendly welcome, and their 
presence was celebrated by great rejoicing. The Indians 
presented them M'ith the articles they had concealed, 
consisting of beads, ochre, and a-f^w small bags of silver ; 
but these Vaca and his compT.nions did not retain them- 
selves, but, as was their nniv8i"sal custom, gave them to 
the Indians who accompanied' them. Upon receiving 
these presents they commenced their dances. 

The Spaniards rested one day with this people, and. 



THE CONQUEST. OF NEW MEXICO. 89r 

tJien took their departure. The Indians wished to conduct 
them to their friends who lived at the summit of the 
ridge ; but as it was out of their course, they continued 
along the plain near the foot of the mountains. Many 
of the Indians accompanied them in spite of their 
opposition, and two were dispatched in advance in search 
of people in the direction they were traveling. The 
women carried a supply of water, and would not allow 
any one to drink of it without permission of the Spaniards. 
Their course now lay along the bank of a river. After 
traveling two leagues the Indians who had been sent 
forward were met returning; who reported they could not 
find any inhabitants, and advised them to travel by the 
mountains. Vaea again refused to take this route, when 
the Indians left him and returned down the river, while 
he and his companions continued up the stream. The 
Spaniards were now alone. But they had not proceeded, 
far when they met two women on their way to join the 
Indians who had just left them ; by whom they were 
informed that farther up the river they would find houses, 
pears, and flour of maize. 

They continued up the river all day, and at sunset 
arrived at a town containing twenty houses where the 
inhabitants came out to meet them, weeping. They 
supposed the strangers were accompanied by Indians 
from below, in which case they knew they would be 
plundered ; but when they saw the Spaniards were alone, 
their weeping was turned into joy. They slept in the 
village that night. About daylight the next morning 
the village was surprised by a party of hostile Indians, 
and as the inhabitants had not time to conceal anything 
they were robbed of all they possessed. The thieves, by 
way of consoling their victims, told, them that the Spaniards- 



00 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

vrere cliildren of the sun, and had the power of hfe and 
death in theh' hands ; hitiraating that then- presence was 
remuneration enougli for the loss of their goods. They 
advised them to conduct the Christians where the people 
were numerous ; that they should oft'end them in nothing, 
but give them all their goods, and should rob other Indians 
wherever encountered. 

The thieves having given this advice took their 
departure. The Spaniards resumed their journey the 
next day, the Indians conducting them through a well- 
l^eopled country for three days, to another village. Their 
guides announced their approach to the various tribes 
they encountered, relating to them many wonderful stories 
they had heard from others about the strangers, and 
some of their own invention. "VVlien tliey arrived near 
the village the inhabitants came out to meet them, and 
tendered all the rites of savage hospitality. Their guides 
rifled the houses they encountered on the way. 

Thence they traveled fifty leagues inland along the 
base of the mountains, and in that distance arrived at a 
village of fifty houses. The inhabitants made them 
numerous presents, giving a copper bell to Dorantes with 
a human face engraved upon it. The Indians said it had 
come from the North. Here they rested over night, and 
departed the next morning. That day they crossed a 
mountain range about seven leagues broad covered with 
scoria and iron, and in the evening they arrived at another 
village situated upon the bank of a beautiful river. The 
inhabitants, carrying their children upon their backs, 
x'arae out to meet them. They gave them many presents, 
including little bags of pearls, pounded antimony with 
which they rubbed the face, beads, and blankets of cow 
hides, and bufialo robes. Yaca thus speaks of the fruit 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 91 

of tlie country: "There are in that country small pine 
trees, and the cones of them are like small eggs ; but the 
seeds are better than those of Castile, as its husk is very 
thin, and while green it is beat and made into balls, and 
thus eaten. If dry, it is pounded in its husk, and con- 
sumed in the form of flour. "2 The principal article of food, 
in addition to the seeds of the pine tree, was pears. 

After those who had come out to receive the Spaniards 
had touched them, they ran back to their houses and 
returned with many things for them to eat. They brought 
to Vaca a man who had been wounded some time before 
with an arrow, the head remaining in the wound, and 
requested him to cure it. He succeeded in drawing out 
the arrow-head, and sewed up the wound, when, in a 
short time, the man recovered. At this the Indians were 
greatly pleased and rejoiced publicly. This operation, 
and the recovery of the wounded man, gave the Spaniards 
great influence. They showed the Indians the bell that 
had been given them, and were informed that there were 
many plates of the same material, buried, and also fixed 
habitations, where it had been obtained. 

Leaving this village they continued on their way, and 
Vaca says, they "traveled through so many sorts of 
people of such divers languages, that the memory fails to 
recall them. They were invariably followed by a crowd 
of Indians, and the custom of plundering each other was 
nniversal. They were armed with clubs, which they threw 
with astonishing precision and killed more hares with 
them than they could consume. Hares were very abundant. 

2 This fruit is the pinon that grows on a species of pine-tree, and 
which abounds in most parts of New Mexico. It is a small but pala- 
table nut, and forms quite an article of trade. I am not aware that the 
pinon-tree grows in Texas. 



92 THE CONQUEST 9F NEW MEXICO. 

When one was started the Indians would surronnd and' 
attack him with their dabs, driving him from one to 
anotlier until he was overcome and captured. 3 Those 
armed with bows did n.ot travel with the main body, bat 
dispersed along the ridges in search of deer. When they. 
came in to camp at night they brought a plentifal supply 
of venison, with birds, quail and other game. Everything 
thej'- killed they brought and laid before the Spaniards. 
The women. ca.rried mats to construct the lodges, eacli 
Spaniard liaving a separate one allotted to him with the 
necessary attendants. The deer and hares were roasted 
in ovens built for that parpqse ; and after partaking of a 
little of the food thas prepared, the}'' distributed it to the 
principal Indians, who were requested to divide it among 
their followers ; but none woald toacli it until it liad first 
been blessed by the Christians. Sometimes they were 
accompanied by as many as three or four hundred Indians, 
and as they had to breathe upon, and bless their food and 
drink before they woald touch it, their presence became 
a great annoyance. On their route they crossed a great 
river which came from the North, and traversed a plain 
thirty leagues broad. Here they were met by other 
Indians who came a great distance to welcome them, and 
throagh whose country they must pass. 

Here the custom of mutual plunder ceased. When the 
Spaniards entered tiie houses the inhabitants placed them, 
and everything they contained, at their disposal; but 

3 This custom still prevails among the Pueblo Indians of New 
Mexico, and they practice the sport several times a year. They sally 
out from their villages, mounted on mules and horses, armed with 
clubs, and ride to a neighboring prairie where the hunt comes off. The 
rabbits are started from their covert, when the horsemen run them 
down and kill them with their clubs. In this manner they capture a. 
great many of these animals. It is a favorite sport. 



THE CONQUEST OF ^'E^Y MEXICO. 9S 

'they returned the presents given them to the chief, to 
'be distributed among the people. Vaca's guides told the 
-new-comers they should not hide any of their goods from 
the white men, for the sun revealed all things to them, 
and that for so doing they would cause them to die. 
These people stood in great fear of the Spaniards, and for 
several days after their arrival they dared not speak nor 
raise their eyes to Heaven. The Indians who had ac- 
companied them to this point now returned, and this 
jiew tribe became their guides. The latter conducted 
them through a desert and mountainous country for fifty 
leagues, when they came to a very large river, which they 
forded, the water coming np to their breasts.* The 
traveling over the barren and rugged country was now 
so difhcult that many of the Indians began to sicken from 
mere fatigue and privation. Thence they entered upon 
extensive plains at the foot of mountains, where they met 
other Indians who came from a great distance beyond. 
They gave the Spaniards more presents than they could 
carr}^ and when requested to receive part of them back 
again, they replied that such was not their custom, and the 
articles were left upon the ground. 

4 Mr, Smith fixes this river as the Arkansas, near its junction with 
the Canadian Fork, but does not give the data From which he arrives 
at this conclusion. My opinion is, that at this time Vaca was not so 
far North as the Arkansas, but was probably on the head-waters of 
some of tlie rivers of EasLern Texas. That he was as far North as the 
Canadian, during his wanderings, I think more than probable. 
Castaileda, in his journal, mentions that Corouado, when out upon the 
buffalo plains, which must have been at a point not far from the lati- 
tude of Santa Fe, came among a people who told him that three white 
men, like himself, had passed through their country, and had blessed 
their skins. These were probably Vaca and his companions, as we 
have DO record of any other white men passing through that section of 
-New Mexico before the -arrival of Coronado and his i-Tinj'. 



94 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



VACA AND COMPANIONS AIIRIVE AMONG A PEOPLE OF FIXED 
HABITATIONS. 

Vaca now desired the Indians to conduct liim toward 
tlie setting-sun, and wanted them to send messengers 
ahead to announce his coming to the inhabitants of the 
country. They endeavored to excuse themselves on the 
ground that the country was remote, and its people their 
enemies ; but not daring to disoblige him they sent for- 
ward two women. The Spaniards and Indians followed 
them but halted at a point agreed upon to await their 
return. They waited there five days, but the messengers 
not returning in that tii^ie, the Indians said they could 
not have found any people. The Spaniards now requested 
to be conducted toward the North, but this the Indians 
declined for a like reason, and because, as they alleged, 
there was neither food to eat nor water to drink in that 
direction. Vaca now showed iiis displeasure, which gave 
great alarm to the Indians. They besought him not to 
be angry any longer, and promised to guide him whither- 
soever he desired to go, even though it were certain they 
would die on the way. 

About this time a circumstance happened which gave 
the Indians increased dread of the Spaniards, and made 



THE C0'?:QUEST CP JTEW MEXICO. 95 

tliem mere submissive to their will. While the latter 
feigned displeasure at their conduct a sickness broke out 
among them, of which eight died in one day. This caused 
great consternation among the inhabitants throughout all 
the country, as they believed the Spaniards caused their 
death by merely willing it ; and their dread became so 
great that they were almost ready to die with fear. The 
families of the dead manifested great sympathy for them 
during their illness ; but after their decease they showed 
neither feeling nor pity for their remains, nor would they 
bury the bodies until commanded to do so by the Spani- 
ards. Vaca and his companions now became alarmed in 
turn, fearing the Indians would die of disease, or run away 
from fright, and they would be left without guides in that 
strange and savage country. While among these people 
one person was never seen to speak to another, nor an 
infant to smile ; and " the only one that cried they took 
off to a distance and with the sharp teeth of a rat they 
scratched it from the shoulder down nearly to the ends 
of the legs." The Indians said it was done as a punish- 
ment because the child had cried in the presence of the 
Christians.! These people were in a better condition, 
more comely in person, and more obedient than any they 
had yet seen. 

The Spaniards had now been w^ith this tribe eighteen 
days, at the end of which the two women who had been 

1 On the authority ofRomaus, as stated by Mr. Smith, theMuscogees 
nsed to practice a custom very similar. He says: " They make their 
boys frequently undergo scratching from head to foot through the sliin 
with broken glass or garfish teeth, so as to make them all in a gore of 
blood, and wash them in cold water ; this is with them the Arcanum 
against all disease ; but when they design it as punishment to the boys 
they dry scratch them (i. e.) they apply no vrater for the operation, 
which renders it very painful." 



'96 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

dispatched toward the setting sun in search of other 
people returned. Thej reported that they had seen but 
few Indians, as it was the season for cattle and they had 
nearly all gone in pursuit of them. The Spaniards now 
determined to resume their journey, and the next morning 
they started. The sick who were convalescent remained 
l)ehind, but those wlio v/ere able went forward. Tliey 
traveled three days through an •uninhabited country M-hen 
they encamped. Castillo and Estevanico started the next 
morning, with the two women as guides, in search of 
inhabitants. One of the vomen conducted them to the 
town where her'father lived, situate upon a river that ran 
between ridges, the habitations being the first tliey had 
seen with the appearance and structure of houses.--- They 
explained to the inhabitants, as well they could, the reason 
of their visit. They were treated with kindness. At the 
cud of three days Castillo took five or six of the principal 
inhabitants and returned to A'aca, reporting that they had 
found a people living in fixed and civilized dwellings, and 
subsisting on beans, pumpkins and maize. "\'aca and the 
Indians immediately set out for the village, and after 
traveling a league and a half they met Estevanico with 
the whole population coming to receive them. They 
gave the Spaniards many presents, including beans, 
pumpkins, calabashes and " blankets of cow hides."3 The 
Indians who had accompanied them to this point, being 

2 The Spaniards, at this time, must have been among the villages of 
the Pueblo Indians of ISfew Mexico. At one point the Canadian River 
runs for some miles through a de(;p canon, which answers pretty well 
to Vaca"s account of a "river which runs between two ridges," and in 
which are found ruins of old Indian pueblos, or villages. If this sup- 
position be true, they must have ascended the Red River some distance 
'And then struck across to the Canadian. 

■i Buffalo robes. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. '97 

^■enemies of tins new people, were dismissed and sent bade 
to their own country after receiving many presents from 
Yaca and his companions. The journey was now resumed 

■ under the guidance of their new allies, and after traveling 

; about six leagues they reached the village at dark. Their 
arrival was the occasion of great rejoicing. 

A^aca remained with this , people tv/o nights and one 

'day, when they conducted him to a neighboring tribe 
who also dvvelt in fixed habitations and lived upon the 
same kind of food. Here the manners and customs were 

• ditferent. The inhabitants did not go out to receive them 
iis many other tribes had done, bat awaited them in their 
houses, seated upon the floar with their heads down, 
faces turned toward the wall and the hair pulled over the 
eyes. They piled their property in a heap on the middle 
of the floor. They gave the Spaniards many presents. 
They were an intelligent and active race, witli tine per- 
sons and possessed of great strength. Vaca gave them 
the name of the " Cow Nation," because of the great 
number of cattle* that were killed in their country, and 

.particularly along the river, for fifty leagues.i The coun- 



i Whenever cattle are mentioned in these pages it refers to buffaloes , 
which then roamed over all New Nexico. 

5 1 am of opinion that the river here referred to was the Pecos 
toward which Vaca traveled from the Canadian or Red River, 
probably in a South-west direction. In 1588, when Espejo made 
an expedition into New Mexico he ascended the Del Norte and returned 
South down a river further to the East which he called the River of 
Oxen, because of the great number of buffaloes found upon its banks. 
Vaca called the country he was now in the " Cow Nation," from the 
great number of the same animals that were killed there and particu- 
larly along the river. The Pecos is the only river East of the Del 

-Norte that flows toward the South ; and there can be no doubt that 
this is the stream that Espejo descended, and that it is identical with 

. the one to which Vaca refers. 
.7 



08 THE CONQUEST OF :?JEW MEXJCO. 

try was very populous. The inhabitants went in a state 
of nature, except the women and old men who were 
incapable of fighting, who dressed in deer-skins. The 
season was unusually dry. Rain had not fallen for two 
years, and all the seed corn they had planted had been 
eaten by the moles. They were afraid to plant again 
nntil it rained lest they should lose the little seed they 
had left. They begged the Spaniards to " tell the sky to 
rain," and also to pray for it ; which latter request was 
complied ^\^th. 

Seeing maize among this people the Spaniards asked 
them where they got it ; they replied that it came from 
where the sun goes down, where it grew in great abund- 
ance. The Indians declined accompanying them in that 
direction, but told them that the path to that country lay 
along the river which flowed by their village toward the 
North ;6 that the country was barren, and in a journey of 
seventeen days they would find nothing to eat but a fruit 
called chacan which was ground between stones, but, 
which could not be eaten on account of its dryness and 
pungency ; that the people along the river and among 

G Mr. Smith gives it as his opinion that this river came from the 
West instead of the Xorth as stated in Vaca's journaL In this cou- 
elusion, however, he is undoubtedly in error, as there is no river run- 
ning h'om the West anyv?here in the region of country ■whej'e the 
Spaniards then were. If they were not on the Pecos they may have 
been on the Del I>Iorte, which comes from West of North ; in which 
case they must have traveled up that river, and afterward changed their 
course and traveled toward the South-west. Espcjo mentions that 
traces of the Spaniards were found along the River Conchos when he 
passed down that stream nearly fifty years afterward. It is possible 
they had already passed the Del Norte, and were now traveling up the 
Conchos ; but that stream is not of sufficient length to permit its bank? 
to be traveled for thirtyfoiu- days toward its source, as apiiears to have 
been the case witii'the stream the Spaniards were on. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 99 

whom they would travel were their enemies, but spoke 
their language, and although they had nothing to give 
them to eat they would receive them with kindness and 
make them presents of cotton, hides and other articles. 
They remained among these Indians two days, feasting 
upon beans and pumpkins, but uncertain what course to 
take. These vegetables were cooked in a manner differ- 
ent from any thing they had seen iii the country. The 
use of pots for boiling food was unknown. For this pur- 
pose they filled the half of a calabash with water and put 
hot stones into it until it boiled, when they put in the 
food to be cooked. While the food was boiling they 
were constantly taking out the stones as they became cool 
and putting in hot ones that the temperature of the water 
might be kept up. 

At the end of two days the Spaniards determined to 
continue their journey in quest of the country where the 
maize grew. They took their course toward the West? 
and followed up the river for seventeen days. They met 
many Indians on • the way who gave them blankets of 
cow hides, and did not offer to molest them. They saw 
some of the fruit called chacan, which they tasted but 
found it bitter and unpalatable. They subsisted on deer- 
suet which they had saved for such an emergency, as the 
country produced nothing for them to live upon. At the 
end of seventeen days they crossed the river and con- 
tinued along the other bank for seventeen days longer in 
the same direction, when they arrived among a new 
people living upon plains between very high mountains.^ 



7 This is an error as to direction, no doubt. 

8 The Llanos Est<acados, or Staked Plains, which Mr. Smith mentions 
in his translation of Vaca, lay in New Mexico and Texas mostly East 
of the Peoos River, and from their position cannot be the plains 



loo 'THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

These Indians lived one-third of the year on tlie powde? 
>of a certain straw : and as it was the season when nothing 
else could be obtained, the Spaniards were compelled to 
cat of it while passing through the country. 

After leaving this people they again arrived in a 
■country of permanent habitations where they found an 
abundance of maize. The houses were built of earth and 
mats. The inhabitants gave them maize both in grain 
and ilour, and also made them presents of beans, 
calabashes and blankets of cotton. Here the Indians 
who had come with tliem were dismissed, Vaca lirst di- 
viding among them the presents received from this last 
tribe, as was the usual custom. The Spaniards returned 
thanks to God for having brought them safely into a 
country where there was such an abundance of food. 
Again resuming their journey they traveled for an hun- 
dred leagues tlu'ough a country that abounded injixed 
habitations with plenty of maize and beans, '^'he in- >- 
habitants, in all tins distance, treated them friendly, and 
gave them of everything they possessed, among which 
were deer, blankets of cotton, beads, corals that came 
from the South Sea, and many fine turquoises brought 
from the North. They gave Vaca five emeralds made 
into arrow-heads which were held in gi-eat esteem and 
used in their dances and celebrations ; which the Indiana 
said they obtained from lofty mountains to the North, 
where there were populous towns and veiy large houses, 
in exchange for bunches of plumes and feathers of parrots.?"*^ 

spoken of as lying between mountains. At this time the Spaniards 
were much further South and West, and if they passed up the Conchos 
•during their wanderings they had already traversed that stream and 
were now a long distance "West of the Del Norte. 

9 In the country inhabited by the Nabajo Indians, lying between the 
1-ivers San Juan and the Colorado Chiquito, are ouad great quantities 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 101 

Thi'ough all this country there was evidence of a higher 
degree of civilization. The women were better treated 
and better dressed than among the tribes they had pre- 
viously visited. Their dress consisted of a skirt of cotton 
that came down to the knees with half sleeves, and skirts 
of dressed deer-skin reaching to the ground, open in 
front, and couiined with leather straps. They washed 
their garments with a certain soapy root that cleansed 
them well.io They also wore shoes.u The Spaniards 
had great influence over all these people, who came to 
them both sick and well, and begged they would toucli 
and bless them. When a woman gave birth to a child 
she immediately carried it to the Christians to receive 
their blessing. They believed the Spaniards came from 
Heaven, and in order to keep alive their superstitious awe 
the latter conversed but little with them. The negro, 
however, was in constant intercourse Avith them in order 
to find out all that his companions wished to know. If 
tlie Indians were at war they made peace on the arrival 
of the Spaniards, in order to be able to meet them as 

ot beautiful garnets, and a green stone resembling the emerald. The 
country also abounds in ruins of large and once populous towns. lu 
all probability the emeralds mentioned by Vac a came from this region. 
The Spaniards were now undoubtedly among the Pueblo Indians of 
New Mexico, or a people who strongly resembled them. 

10 This is the root of a species of a palm tree, and is a spongy, fibrous 
mass, containing mucilaginous and alkaline matter. It grows in most 
parts of New Mexico, where it is known by the name of Amolc, and 
is used instead of soap for washing woolen goods. Two kinds are 
found, Amole Pelota and Amole Largo. The former has a large and 
round leaf, and is best for washing, while the latter has a long and 
narrow leaf like that of the palm tree, I do not know that it is found 
■out of New Mexico. 

11 This is the first mention of the inhabitants of all that region wear- 
ing covering on their feet. The "shoes" were no doubt the moccasins 
stDl worn. 



102 7HE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

friends and present their oiferings. They left all the 
tribes at peace as they passed through the country. They 
taught them that there was in Heaven a Great Being 
whom they called God, who made the sky and the earth, 
and all other things ; that He was thSir master and they 
worshipped and obeyed him, and received from him all 
good things. The Indians comprehended this very 
imperfectly, but at the rising and going down of the sun 
they would open their hands toward the Heavens with 
loud shoutings, and afterward draw them down over their 
bodies. The Spaniards spoke six different languages, 
but the people they were now with could understand 
neither of them, and they could only hold intercourse 
with each other by signs. 



TME CONQUEST OT NEAV MEXICO. 1^' 



CHAPTER XIV. 



•VlIE SPANIAKDS REACH THE SETTLEMENTS OF NEW SPAIN, 
. AND THENCE GO TO THE CITY OE MEXICO. 

The Spaniards remained in tlie village where the 
inhabitants gave them emeralds, three days ; which they 
i-alled the "Town of Hearts,"^ becanse the Indians gave 
^i^Th^^^^^T^^^^n^^earts" must have been near the gulf of California 
.ndL the limits or the present Mexican State of ^^^^^^ 
u^entions that the first province the army '^^^'^^ ^^' ^^^^^^ ^^'J^'t 
Cibola, after leaving Caliaean, was the one which Cabeza ^\^J^^^J^l- 
called ncrra de los Cor<^.ones, because when ^ ^^^^'^ 
the inhabitants offered him many hearts of ^^J^ /^^ J^^^ f^^^ 
time the Spaniards were marching nearly parallel with, and but a short 
Ltance Irom, the Gulf of California ; and from this positron of ^ aca 
In his complnlons, they may have passed entirely ^^^^ 
of New Mexico, and then continued their journey down ^<^^^ ^^^ S"^ 
coast Tbey may possibly have struck the head-waters of the G la, 
Tr crossing the Del Koi4, and, passing down that stream toward the 
West o a point near where It empties into the Rio Colorado changed 
bet course to the South-east, and traveled parallel to the Gul unh 
hey reached Culiacan. But if this were the case they could not have 
passed up the Conchos, as already indicated. They may, ho^^ve,. 
1 ave traveled nearly due West from the Conchos toward tl^e coas a.u 
-then turned South-east from the " Town of Hearts," and continued the u 
course parallel to the coast. This-opinion is sustained ^;y '-« 
Whinple U. S. Topographical Engineers, who places the ^o^^n o 
leaSs S thi valley of the river San Miguel, and not far from the coast 
of the Gulf of California. If this location be correct, it is cooclusive 
evidence that Vaca and companions did not pass up the river Conchos 
but instead passed down the Gila to a point near its mouth, and .he.) 
..truck across to the liver San Miguel, and so on to Guhacaji. 



104 THE COl^UEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Dorantes over five hundi-ed split hearts of deer. These • 
formed an important article of food with the inhabitants,, 
and great abundance was always kept on hand for con- 
sumption. Vaca says this country was the entrance to. 
many provinces in the South Sea, " and whoever go to 
seek it and do not enter will be lost ; for tliere is no 
maize on the coast ; the inhabitants eat the powder of 
corn, {bledo,) and of straw, and fish caught in tlie sea from 
rafts, as they have no canoes. The women cover tlicir 
nudity with grass and straw. They are a melancholy 
and emaciated people." 

In a day's journey beyond the " Town of Hearts," they 
arrived at another town where they were detained fifteen 
days by heavy rains, which raised the river so high that 
they could not cross it for that length of time. Here 
Castillo saw upon the neck of an Indian the buckle of a 
sword-belt, and the nail of a horse shoe. The inhabitants 
being asked how they had obtained these things, answered 
that they had got them from men who wore beards like 
themselves, who came from Heaven, and had arrived at 
that river with horses, lances and swords, where tliey 
killed two of their people ; that they had gone to sea and 
returned home toward where the sun sets. This was the 
first information the Spaniards received of their country- 
men, and they were greatly rejoiced at the prospect of 
again meeting them. As they advanced they heard more 
rumors of white men having been in the country, and now 
traveled with renewed hope. To conciliate tlie Indians, 
Vaca told them he was going in search of the M'hite people, 
in order to persuade them neither to hurt nor make 
slaves of them, which gave them great joy. 

Thence our wanderers passed through many territories,, 
abounding in fertile land and beautiful streams, but. found. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW IVIEXICO. 105> 

all tlie houses and towns deserted, the inhabitants having, 
tied to the mountains through fear of the Spaniards of 
Mexico, who made incursions that far. Being unable to. 
plant their crops, they lived upon roots and the bark of 
trees, and were almost in a starving condition. Here 
they suffered mucli from hunger, as the Indians had, 
nothing to give them, but blankets. They related to them 
how the Spaniards had entered their country, destroyed 
their towns, and carried away many of the men, and all 
the women and boys, while those who had been able to- 
escape were wandering through the mountains. 

Vaca and companions were now alarmed lest the 
Indians should, revenge upon them the injuries they had 
received from their countrymen, and feared when they 
should reach that part of the country where hostilities had 
already taken place, they would oppose their progrese,. 
They traveled under many apprehensions, but when they 
arrived among the Indians at war with the Spaniards, 
they were received with kindness, and looked upon with 
awe and reverence. They were conducted to a town at 
the edge of a mountain range of difficult passage, where 
they found many people assembled. The Indians gave 
them " two thousand back loads of corn," which Vaca 
distributed among those who had accompanied him. The 
next day two messengers were dispatched through the 
country to notify the inhabitants to meet them at a town 
three day's journey beyond, and the following day they 
set out for that place. As they advanced they saw 
repeated indications of their countrymen. At mid-day 
they met the messengers returning, who reported that 
they had seen but few Indians as they had left their 
villages andi were wandering in the mountains, bui tliat 



i08 TSE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

tliej liacl seen tlie Spaniards tlie night before, wlio were 
carrying away the people in chains. 

This intbrmation so alarmed the Indians who accom- 
panied Vaca, that many of them fled immediately, and 
the whole would have left them had he not assured them 
of their safety. Some of them had come with him an 
hundred leagues, and as he could not then discharge them 
in a' condition to reach their own country, he kept them 
with him. They continued their journey. On the third 
day tliey were guided to the place where the Spaniards 
had been seen ; when it was found that horsemen had 
been there, bilt had left. They were now on the river 
Petutan, at a point estimated to be ninety-two leagues 
from tlie village where they were detained by the rain. 
It was eighty leagues from the river where they first 
heard of Christians, and to which point Diego de Guyman 
had been. In the mountain regions of all this extent, 
they saw traces of gold, antimony, iron, copper, and other 
metals, and found the climate very warm. 

These repeated indications of their countrymen filled 
the wanderers with joy, and they returned thanks to God 
for having delivered them from so many dangers and 
privations. \''aca entreated some of his companions to 
go in search of the Spaniards ; but they being unwilling, 
he set out himself, accompanied by the negro and eleven 
Indians. He followed their trail, and the next day over- 
took four horsemen. They were so much astonished at 
his strange appearance, and seeing him in company with 
Indians, that they would have but little to do or say to 
him. He requested to be conducted to their commanding 
oflicer, when they took him and the Indians to captain 
Diego de Alcaraz. He explained to Alcaraz whence he 
•i-ame and his condition, and that Castillo and Dorantes, 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 107 

with a multitude of Indians, were only ten leagues off. 
The captain immediately dispatched three cavalry men 
with fifty Indians, and the negro as guide, to bring them 
up. Alcaraz explained to Vaca that he was lost and did 
not know whither to turn to extricate himself ; that he 
had not been able to capture an Indian for several days, 
and that their provisions had given out. Vaca requested 
his countrymen to give him a certificate of the day, 
month and year of his arrival among them, and stating 
the manner in which he came. This was done as he 
desired. 

After the lapse of five days the companions of Vaca 
arrived at the camp of Alcaraz, accompanied by some 
«ix hundred Indians. The soldiers being in great Avant 
of provisions, the Indians, at the request of Vaca, brought 
them a plentiful supply of corn and other articles of food. 
The corn was in jars closed up with clay, which they had 
buried to conceal from the Spaniards. Alcaraz was 
anxious to make slaves of these Indians according to the 
custom of the times, but Vaca opposed it. He felt liim- 
self in honor bound to protect the simple natives who had 
treated him with so much kindness, and therefore would 
not allow them to be reduced to bondage. This led to 
high words between him and Alcaraz. 

The Indians who accompanied Vaca refused to return 
to their own country until they had delivered him safely 
into the hands of other Indians, as was their custom, 
fearing they would die unless they did so. Alcaraz, 
jealous of the devoted attachment of the Indians to Vaca 
and his companions, endeavored to weaken their venera- 
tion for them by telling them they were white men like 
themselves ; that they had been long lost and were persons 
of a low condition. But this had no influence with the 



108 . THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

iintutored natives ; who declared that the soldiers lied ;. 
that the poor wanderers " had come from whence the sun 
rises, and they, whence it goes down ; that we healed the 
sick, and they killed the sound ; that we had come naked 
and barefooted; and they in clothing and on horses with 
lances ; that we were not covetous of anything, but that 
all that was given to us we directly turned to give, re- 
maining with nothing ; and the others that they had no- 
purpose but to rob whomsoever tliey found, and give 
nothing to any one." Vaca was unable to convince them 
that he was like the other Christians, and with difficulty 
persuaded them to return to their own country and plant 
their crops and rebuild their towns. The country is 
described as the best and most prolilic of all the Indias, 
producing three crops in a year. It abounded in fertile 
valleys and beautiful rivers, with an abundance of fruits, 
provisions of various kinds, and the precious metals ; and 
the inhabitants were comely in person and well disposed. 

iilcaraz sent Aaca and his companions forward in- 
charge of an alcalde named Zeburos, attended by two 
men. He conducted them through vast forests and 
solitudes, and they sufiered so many hardships that some 
of the Indians died. They were lost in the wood for two 
days, and after traveling twenty-five leagues and being 
greatly fatigued, the alcalde conducted them to a town 
of friendly Indians. Here the alcalde stopped, but the 
Spaniards continued on to the town of Culiazan,2 three 
leagues further, where they found ]\Ielchor Diaz, principal 
alcalde and captain of the provinces 

Diaz hearing of their arrival came to see them. He 

2 The same as Culiacan. 

3 A small town in the Mexican State of Cinaloa on the river Culiacaii 
which empties into the Gulf of California. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 109 

ii'eceived them witk great kindness in the name of Nuno 
de Guzman, the governor of the province, and placed all 
that he had at their disposaL After tarrying here a few 
■days in order to pacify' the neighboring Indians by means 
of the great influence they exercised over tlicm, they de- 
parted for the vilhige San ]\Iiguel, thirty leagues from the 
river Petutan. They remained at tliis place until the 
15th of May, when they set out under an escort for the 
•city of Compostella, an hundred leagues distant, traveling 
through a country swarming with hostile Indians. Upon 
their arrival they were received and entertained by 
governor Guzman in the most gracious and hospitable 
■manner. He clothed them from his own wardrobe, but 
they could not wear the clothes given them, nor sleep 
elsewhere than on the ground for some days. They 
remained at Compostella ten or twelve days wlien they 
■departed for the city of Mexico. ■ They were well enter- 
tained as they passed through the country, and in some 
parts the people flocked to the road from a considerable 
■■distance to see them, and return thanks tliat they had 
'been delivered from all their dangers and trials. They 
arrived in Mexico on Sunday, the day before the vespers 
•of St. James, and were welcomed by the Viceroy and the 
marquis del Valle. 

Vaca and his companions spent the winter in Mexico, 
and in the spring himself and Dorantes went to Vera 
Cruz to take shipping for Spain. Tliey sailed hence the 
10th of April, and after a voyage ©f many vicissitudes 
•:uid dangers they arrived safely at the port of Lisbon, on 
die 9th day of August, 1537, 



110 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE EARLIEST INFORMATION OF NEW MEXICO, AND THE 
FIRST ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE IT. 

The earliest information the Spaniards of Southern 
Hexico received of what is now the territory of New 
.^lexico, then known as the country of the Seven Cities 
or Cibola,! was about the year 1530. At this time, Nuuo 
de Guzman w^as President of New Spain, and resided in 
the city of 3Iexico. He had in his employ an Indian who 
was said to be a native of the valley of Oxitipar, which 
the Spaniards called Tejos ; who represented himself as 
the son of a merchant in the habit of traveling through 
the interior of the country for the purpose of selling fine 
bird feathers to be manufactured into plumes, for which 
he obtained, in exchange, large quantities of gold and 
silver which everywhere abounded. He said that he had 

1 The origin of this word is not known, but I believe it to be Indian, 
and was, no doubt, the name the natives of the country gave to the 
bison or buiFalo. The " Cibola" country was known to the Spaniards 
of Southern Mexico, ten years before Coronada undertook his expedi- 
tion. In New Mexico, by common consent, the word is accepted as 
the Spanish for buflalo, but in the Spanish lexicons it is translated 
n, quadruped called the "Mexican bull." New Mexico was known 
to the early Spaniards as the " buffalo country." 



THE CONQUEST 6F KEW MEXICO. Ill 

made t^vo trips- with his father and saw the cities he spoke 
about ; ,that they were seven in number, and so extensive 
iind beautiful they cpuld be compared to the city of 
Mexico, and that entire streets were occupied by those 
who worked in tlie precious metals. He represented tliat 
this country could only be reached after crossing a deserfe 
of forty days journey, wliich was covered with a species 
of short grass about five inclies high, and that it must ho 
penetrated in a Northern direction between the two seas. 

Guzman and others, to whom these relations were 
made, placed implicit confidence in the narrative of the 
Indian, wliich inflamed the minds of the adventurous and 
gold-loving Spaniards, who determined to penetrate that 
unknown region, make it subject to the crown of Spain, 
and enrich themselves from the spoils of the conquest,. 
For this purpose an expedition was immediately placed 
on foot to 1)3 commanded by the President in person, 
composed of four hundred Spaniards, priiicipally men of 
wealth and gay cavaliers, and twenty thousand Indian 
allies. They believed Cibola could be reached in a dis- 
tance of about two hundred leagues. 

The army took up its march from Mexico with high, 
hopes of success, directing its course toward what v/as 
then called the North Sea. It crossed the province of 
Tol^asco, a dependency of Michoacan, and in good order 
reached that of Culiacan where the government of Nufio 
do Guzman terminated. Here he encounfered many 
difficulties, and obstructions to his march met him on 
every hand. The country was wild and imexplored, and 
the mountains so precipitous and rugged that he could 
not find a road across them. The want of a route by 
which to advance obliged him to remain a considerable 
time in Culiacan, which produced great dissatisfaction in 



112 THE 'CONQUEST OF ISTEAV MEXICO. 

the army, and many became anxious to return. The ricli 
])ersons, who made up a large portion of his I'q^ce, not 
accustomed to the hardships they encountered were 
unanimously in favor of quitting an expedition which 
(promised only suffering and danger. These causes were 
-a death-blow to a further advance. 

In the meantime, affairs in the city of JMexico had as- 
sumed such a shape that Guzman had no desire to return 
tliither. During his absence the renowned Hernan 
Cortez had returned from Spain clothed with new honors 
and authority, and Guzman feared to place himself in liis 
.power. In the absence of Cortez he had been his enemy : 
he had oppressed his friends and squandered his estate, 
and justly feared that he would retaliate if he should have 
■ an opportunity. This condition of things induced Guz- 
man not to return to Mexico, but to remain and colonize 
the province of Culiacan and tliere establish liis power, 
llelinquishing all idea of advancing farther into the 
interior, he returned with those Spaniards who still 
■i'cmained with him and established himself at Xalisco 
and Tonala, which two provinces subsequently formed 
the kingdom of New Galecia. During this period the 
Tejos Indian died, and, for the present, all thought of 
exploring the country of Seven Cities was abandoned. 

Nuuo de Guzm.an remained in authority about eight 
years after the termination of this expedition, when he 
was deposed and thrown into prison and the government 
of the province was usurped by and passed into the hands 
of a resident judge, called the licentiate de la Torre, 
After the death of the latter, the Vicero}^ of New Spain, 
Don Antonio de ]\Iendoza, appointed Francisco Vasquez 
Coronado to succeed him in the government of New 
(ralecia. He was a gentleman of Salamanca, in Spain. 



^HE CONQUEST OF NEW- MEXICO. •' 1 1 3 

■ "but li^d been established sometime at Mexico, where he 
. married a daughter of the Treasurer, Alonzo d'Estrada, 
a reputed son of Ferdinand the CathoHc. On his ap- 
pointment, Coronado took a journey through New Spain 
in order to become acquainted with the conntry and to 
. see the people wliom he was to govern. 

About this time the Viceroy received further inform.a- 
tion concerning tlie counEiry of the Seven Cities. This 
was communicated by Cabeza de Vaca and his companions 
who reached Culiacan after tlieir adventurous wanderings 
across the continent. They stated to Mendoza that they 
'tliad made inquiries of the country through which iliey 
passed, and had been told by the inhabitants of great 
cities where the houses were four stories high ; that the 
-country was populous, and the people cultivated and lived 
upon maize, pumpkins and other vegetables ; that it 
abounded in cattle, which roamed about in great herds.; 
deer and other animals, and that they had seen many 
towns of fixed habitations whose inhabitants dressed m 
■cotton and tanned deer-skin. 

The Spaniards listened with deep interest to these 
recitals, which renewed their desire to , penetrate the 
country of the Seven Cities in search of the remarkable 
things said to exist there. The Viceroy communicated 
this information to Coronado, who immediately abandoned 
the visit he was making through New Spain, and repaired 
to Culiacan. He took with him to his province three 
monks, and the Barbary negro who had accompanied 
Vaca in his wanderings. Being anxious to obtain more 
correct knowdedge of the country iji which he had become 
•so deeply interested, he induced two of tlie monks and 
the negro to undertake an exploration in tliat direction. 
.They made immediate preparations for the journey. 
8 



114 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICf 



CHAPTER XVI, 



ItRIAR NIZA SETS OUT FOR CIEOLA, ACCOMPANIED BY ONE OF 
VACA'S COMPANIONS.! 

The expedition wliich Mendoza put on foot to make 
explorations into the provincti of Cibola, or the country of 
the Seven Cities, was under the direction of a Franciscan 
friar named Marcos de Kiza, or Nizza.2 He was well 

1 Before he set out the friar received instructions from Mendoza, 
■which pointed out the object of the expedition and particularly in- 
structed him in what he should say to the Indians. Ho was to observe 
the countr}', climate, soil and productions, rivers, animals, tlic number 
of the inhabitants and precious metals, and, if possible, obtain samples 
of everything he saw. According to the letter of instructions, the 
expedition was undertaken for "the honor and glory of the Holy 
Trinitj'-, and for the propagation of our holy Catholic fixitb.'' The friar 
received these instructions the 2Sth of November, 1538. Ternaux 
Compans, Appendice, p. 249, 

2 The route taken by Niza and Stephen can be traced with much 
greater accuracy than that of Yaca and his companions. They trav- 
eled nearly parallel with the gulf of California until they arrived near 
the head of it, when they changed direction to the North-east, crossed 
the river Gila, and traversed the extensive stretch of barren country 
that lies to the North of that stream. This region is almost a desert 
waste, with a light sandy soil, covered for the most part v/ith a growth 
of stu.nted pine trees, and with little water. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 1^5 

fitted for the journey by liis former experience, having 
served under Alvarado in Pern, and was inured to hard- 
ship and danger. He was accompanied by friar Ono- 
rato, and Stephen, the Barbary negro before mentioned, 
and a number of Indians, of the towns of Pctatlan and 
Cuchillo, whom the Viceroy had pnrchased and set free 
in Culiacan. Having completed the necessary arrange- 
ments they departed from the town of Saint Michael, in 
the province of Culiacan, on Friday, the 7th of March, 
1539. They traveled nearly in a North-west direction, 
some little distance from the coast of the gulf of Califor- 
nia, and in a few days arrived safely at the town of 
Petatlan. The inhabitants of the country through whicli 
they passed treated them with great kindness and hospi- 
tality. They made entertainments for them on the road 
side, furnished them with provisions and gave them 
presents of robes, flowers and many other articles. In 

It is the opinion of some who have examined the subject that the 
route of Niza was further inland than I have located it, among whom 
are lieutenant Whipple, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, and 
Mr. Barllett. It is supposed that the desert of "four days' journey," 
first crossed by Niza, lies between the Rio Yaqui and Rio Sonora. 
Thence he passed through the valley of Sonora and continued in a 
course nearly North. The town of Vacupa, of "reasonable bigness," 
is supposed to have been identical with Magdalena on the river San 
Miguel. He is thought to have passed near the present site of Tueson, 
a small Mexican town in the territory of Arizona, and continuing 
North struck the Gila, through the valley of which he traveled five days' 
journey ; he then crossed over to the Rio Azul which he ascended, 
and so continued on to the great desert which he passed, until he came 
within sight of Cibola. Upon reflection I believe that Niza traveled 
some distance up the valley of the Gila, but that he did not ascend it 
to a point so high up as the Azul, as that would have obliged him to 
cross the MogoUon ipountains of which no mention is made. He must 
have followed up the Rio Francisco or Salt river further to the West 
and thus escaped the mountains. 



IIG THE CONQUEST -OF NEW MEXICO. 

the parts of the country wliere there were no houses the 
Indians made bowers of the boughs and branches of trees 
plaited together for tlieni to rest and sleep under. At 
Petatlan Onorato was taken sick whieli detained Niza 
three days, but his illness increased to such a degree 
that he was compelled to leave hiin behind. 

Resuming his march he trav*eled a distance of twenty- 
five or thirty leagues from Petatlan, receiving the same 
uniform kindness from the inhabitants. There was great 
scarcity of provisions througliout all the country, and the 
Indians informed him that rain had not fallen for three 
years. They had almost ceased cultivating the land, 
having fled to the mountains and concealed themselves 
from fear of the Spaniards, who were in the habit of 
making incursions from the town of Saint Michael and 
carrying them off into captivity. Through all this region 
nothing was seen worthy of note. There came to him 
some Indians from an island visited by Cortez and told 
him that it was not the main-land, as was generally sup- 
;[>osed, but was ]-eally an island. They crossed over on 
rafts to the main-land, the distance being about half a 
league. He was also visited by otlier Indians who came 
from a larger island further off, They said there were 
thirty other islands, inhabited, which produced but few 
provisions, except two of them which yielded corn. They 
wore about their necks many large shells of the mother 
of pearl ; and upon Niza showing them some which life 
carried they told him there was a great number of such 
on the islands, but he saw none upon his march. 

Niza now arrived at a desert which he crossed in a 
■journey of four days, accomjjanied by the Indians of the 
islands and some others who inhabited the mountains he 
•Inid passed. Having crossed the desert he came to 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 117 

another people who were much astonished at the sight of 
white men, as they had no knowledge of the Spaniards ; 
nor did they hold traffic or intercourse of any kind with 
the people who lived upon the opposite side of the desert. 
They treated Niza and his companions with great kind- 
ness, and furnished them with such provision as the 
country afforded. They sought to touch the garments 
of the friar, whom they called Ilayota, which meant, in 
their language, a man come from heaven. In accordance 
with his instructions he taught these people a knowledge 
of God and the Emperor as he was best able to do. As 
he traversed the country he made diligent inquiry of the 
natives as to where he should find a recrion containing 
large cities, and inhabited by people superior to those ho 
had already seen, but he could hear of none. Some of 
the Indians told him that four or five days' journey 
further into the interior there was a great plain at the 
foot of a mountain, which contained a number of large 
towns, and that the people were clad in cotton. Niza 
exhibited to these Indians sev^eral varieties of metals, in 
order to learn if any such were to be found in that coun- 
try. They took up the gold and told him there were 
many vessels of that metal among the people who inhab- 
ited the plain, " and that they carried certain round green 
stones hanging at their nostrils and at their ears, and 
that they have certain, thin plates of that gold wherewith 
they scrape oif their sweat, and that the walls of their 
temple are covered therewith, and that they use it in all 
their household vessels." He postponed an exploration 
of the plain until his return, as it was a considerable dis- 
tance in the interior, and he was instructed not to leave 
the sea-coast. 

He now traveled for three days through a country 



118 THE CONQUEST QF NEW MEXICO. 

inhabited bj these same Indians, at the end of which 
time he arrived at a town of "reasonable bigness," called 
Vacnpa, where he was well received by the inhabitants 
and furnished with an abundance of provisions. It was- 
situated about forty leagues from the sea, and the sur- 
rounding country was fruitful and capable of being 
watered. He arrived there two days before Passion- 
Week, and remained until after Eastei* for the purpose 
of informing liimself of the country and the people. 
He sent three parties to the sea-coast with directions 
to bring in some of the inhabitants of the coast and 
from the adjacent islands, from whom he hoped to ob- 
tain information of those regions. He also dispatched 
Stephen, with instructions to proceed directly to the 
Northward the distance of fifty or three-score leagues, to 
search for anything of interest in that direction. It was 
agreed between him and Niza, before starting, that if he 
should discover anything of but little importance he was 
to send back a white cross of one handful in length ; but 
if he should learn of a country greater and better to the 
North-east he was to send back a great cross. The friar 
further instructed Stephen, that in case he should gain 
information of a rich and well-peopled country he was 
not to proceed any further on his journey, but return in 
person or send back an Indian with the intelligence. 

The negro set out on the afternoon of Passion-Monday. 
In four days a messenger came to Niza with intelligence 
from Stephen, bearing a cross as large and high as a man. 
He sent word that he had arrived among a people who 
gave him information of a mighty province, and that there 
were Indians in his company who had been there. He 
requested the friar to leave Vacupa immediately and fol- 
low him. An Indian who was acquainted with this 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICQc 119 

-^jroviiice accompanied the messenger and gave Niza au 
account of the new country. He said it was a journey 
of thirty days from the town where tlie negro then was 
to the first city of said province, which was called Cibola ;.2 
that the province contained seven great cities in all, un- 
der the dominion of one lord ; that the houses were built 

3 In esamining the early history of New Mexico I have been able to 
uocate the ancient city, or village, of Cibola with accuracy, and 
which heretofore has been a matter of speculation. The situation is 
identical with the present pueblo of Zuiii, of which the reader will find 
abundant evidence in this volume, although the town of Cibola may 
Bot have stood vipon the exact spot where modern Zuiii is situated, as 
there are indications that the pueblo has been located at two or three 
different points. 

The present pueblo of Zuni is situated on the North side of the creek 
of the same name a few miles above its junction with the Little Colo- 
rado, and contains about one thousand inhabitants. The houses are 
clustered together upon an eminence which rises some twenty feet above 
the surrounding plain.; they are one and two stories high and some of 
the rooms are large. About the centre of the pueblo are an old 
church and monastery, both now in a ruined condition. The streets 
are both narrow and crooked. 

Some twelve or fifteen miles above this pueblo on the same creek are 
■he ruins of another village called Old Zuiii, which has been abandoned 
.for a number of years ; though the fields around the ruins are still cul- 
tivated by the Zuiii Indians, and some of the houses are occupied during 
the summer months, and the tall of the year until the crops are gathered. 
!RIauy of these houses are entirely under ground, without ventilation 
except through a small aperture in the top ; while others are built with 
one story above ground, of rude stones laid in mud and covered with 
earth. About three miles above these ruins there is a fine bold spring 
of good water gushing out at the head of a hollow, with the ruins of 
another old pueblo on both sides. The spring is walled up with stone 
.in the form of a horse-shoe, with the wall on three sides elevated above 
the ground, while to the westward the water escapes in a fine, clear 
-brook. These latter ruins a-re entirely of stone without auy appearance 
of mortar, and appear to have been abandoned for ages. 

The ruins near the spring appear to be the point where the Zujli 
Indians established themselves a very long time ago, and their extent 
would icdicate that at that time the population was not more thap 



120 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

of pine and stones, and were large and commodious ; thr^i' 
the least of them were one story in height, and some 
were two and three ; and the dwelling of the lord of the 
province -was four stories high. All the houses were 
joined one to another, in good order, and in the gates of 
the principal ones tliere were set many turquoises,' 

one-third as niaoy as at present. When the population became more 
numerous the land susceptible of cultivation around the village was 
found to be insufflcient for the Inhabitants, and they removed down 
the creek to the site of Old Zuni. Again the population became too 
numerous to subsist at the latter place, and the land also becoming 
exhausted from cultivation, another removal was made to the site of 
the present pueblo, which is considerably larger than the former appear 
to have been. 

Some fifteen or eighteen miles East of the ruins at the spring is a 
large perpendicular sandstone rock, called Inscription Rock. It juts 
out from the hill several hundred yards in the form of a triangle, with 
the accute angle pointing eastward, and is nearly two hundred feet in,, 
height. This rock has a great number of names, inscriptions and 
hyeroglyphics cut upon its face, some of them bearing date about three 
hundred years ago. At the base of the southern face near its junction 
with the hill is a pool of not very good water, surrounded by a cluster 
of small trees. The present pueblo of Zuni is near an hundred and 
llfty miles West of the Rio del Xorte, and about the same distance be- 
yond the settlements in the valley of that river. This pueblo, like all 
others in the territory, is an independent community, and among the 
officers annually elected is one whose duty it is to take care of the sun 
fvnd moon. Among the records of the early explorations in New 
Mexico v/hich fell into my hands in the Secretary's office, Santa Fc, 
was a portion of the manuscript journal of captain general Don Do- 
mingo Jeronso Petriz de Cruzate, who marched into the country in 
1688 to subdue the Indians. He mentions, among other things, that 
in the time of Philip II., of Spain, Zuni was known as the " Buffalo 
Province." Now, as Philip was upon the throne within twenty years 
after the expedition of Coronado, and many of the men living who 
were engaged in it, and as many other Spaniards visited the Cibola 
countr3^ ■which was afterward named Zufli, before his death, I believe 
I am justified in pronouncing the evidence conclusive on the point. 
This point being settled the tracing of the route of Coronado is Gom- 
p.aratively. easy. 



THE COIif QUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 121 

ibgeniouslj wrought ; that the people of Cibohi were 
well-dressed, and that beyond this were many othcK 
provinces all greater than that of the Seven Cities. 

The friar was greatly pleased at the receipt of this 
intelligence. He placed full confidence in all the Indian 
told him for the reason that he found him " a man of good 
understanding." Believing that Stephen would await 
his arrival at the place where he then was, he deferred 
his departure to join him until the return of those he had 
sent to the sea-coast. They reached Vacupa on Easter 
day, bringing with them some of the inhabitants. Thej 
also brought back some shields made of cow-hides, very 
well dressed, and large enough to cover the entire person:, 
from Iiead to foot, with a hole in the top to look through. 
They were made so strong it was said a cross-bow could 
not pierce them. They informed Niza that both the 
islands and the coast were scarce of provisions ; but that 
gold abounded in great quantities, and the inhabitant* 
wore shells of pearls upon their foreheads. The people 
of the islands traded with those of the main-land, crossing 
over on rafts. 

The same day three Indians, called Pintados,! arrived 
at Vacupa on a visit to Niza. They lived far up in the 
interior to.ward the East, some upon the borders of the 
country of the Seven Cities, and were so named because 
their faces, breasts and arms were painted. They con- 
firmed the information received from the messengers of 
Stephen, in all essential particulars. In the meantime, 
the negro sent other messengers and a new cross as largo 
as the first, to the friar, with information that the land- 

4 There is a race of Indians to tliis day in Mexico, called " Piatos," 
for the same reason, who are considered the bravest men of the couii+ 
try, and are probably the descendants of these same Pintados,. 



122 THE CONQUEST'OF NEW MEXICO. 

which he sought was the greatest aud best country in all 
those parts. From them he also learned many things 
that were new concerning the seven cities. He sent the 
Indians of the sea-coast back to their countrj', retaining 
those of the islands who promised to accompany him a 
seven or eight days journey toward Cibola. 

This information hastened the departure of Niza from 
Yacupa. He made immediate arrangements to resume 
his march, and on Easter Tuesday he set out accompanied 
by the Indians of the islands and the Pintados. He 
traveled in the direction that Stephen had taken, and in 
three days he arrived among a people who told him that 
a man might reach the cities of Cibola from that place in 
a journey of thirty days. 1 rom them he gained a more 
exact knowledge of the country and the inhabitants. 
They informed him that besides these seven cities there 
Avere other kingdoms which were called Marata, Acus 
and Totonteal. Upon these Indians being asked why 
they had traveled so far from their homes, they answered 
that they were going in search of turquoises, hides of 
cattle and other things which abounded in the Cibola 
country ; that they were in the habit of going into the 
first cities of the province and serving the inhabitants by 
tilling the soil and in other occupations, for which they 
received iu exchange, hides and turquoises ; that the in- 
habitants of Cibola, this being the name of the first of the 
seven, wore fine turquoises hanging from their ears and 
nostrils, and the gates of the principal houses were 
oramented with tliem in beautiful workmanship; that they 
dressed in a gown of cotton -which reached to the feet, 
with a button at the neck and a long string hanging 
down from the same ; the sleeves were as broad beneath 
as above, and the waist was encircled with a girdle made 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 123 

of turquoises. Some wore over their coats dresses of 
tanned skins which were esteemed the best material in 
the country, and others wore a still different material. 
The women dressed in gowns of the same description. 
These Indians entertained Niza with great hospitality, 
and were anxious to know when he would return to 
Va'cupa, so tliat they could furnish him with food and 
lodgings. They brought the sick to him to be healed, 
and sought to touch his garments, under the belief that 
they contained some hidden virtue. They gave him a 
number of cow-hides which had come from Cibola, which 
were so well tanned, and dressed, and trimmed witli sucli 
taste, that they appeared to have been prepared by a 
civilized people. 



124 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



NIZA CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY, AND IIEAKS OF THE DEATH 
OF STEPHEN. 

NiZA again resumes his journey, taking with him only 
the Pintados. The same day he came to another village 
where the inhabitants likewise received him with kind- 
ness, and sought to touch his garments. They gave him 
substantially the same account of the country of the Seven 
Cities as he had already received. Here he found a large 
cross, which the negro had set up as a sign that the news 
of a good country was more encouraging, and had left 
word that he intended to hasten forward as rapidly as 
possible, but Avould wait for the friar at the edge of the 
iirst desert he should come to. Several of the inhabitants 
had accompanied Stephen on his journey, but had not 
yet returned. Before Niza left this place he set up two 
crosses and took possession of the country as far as that 
point, in accordance with his instructions. 

Niza now traveled five days through a coyntry well- 
peopled and abounding in villages. He was everywhere 
well received and hospitably entertained by the Indians 
and had given to him presents of turquoises and ox-hides..!- 

!.No doubt these " os.hides " were tanned buffalo skins. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 1?5 

Here lie I'eceived additional information about Cibola. 
He ^vas told that in two days he would come to a desert 
where there was no food to be had, and that in order to 
supply his wants some of their people had been sent for- 
ward to carry provisions and prepare iodgings for him. 
This induced him to hasten on, for he hoped to find 
Stephen at the farther side of this desert, as he had 
promised to wait for him at that point. 

Before he arrived at the desert he came to a very con- 
siderable village, pleasantly situated, and supplied Avith 
an abundance of water conveyed thither by artificial 
means. Manv of the inhabitants, both men and women, 
were dressed in cotton garments, while others were cov- 
ered with ox-hides, which were generally esteemed in the 
country the best article of apparel. They wore turquoises 
suspended from their nostrils and ears as ornaments, 
which they called Oacona, and the wearing of them was 
called Gasconados. Among those who came to pay their 
respects to Niza was the Lord of the village and his two 
brothers, who were well-dressed in cotton, with a collar 
of turquoises about the neck, and others suspended from 
their ears and nose. To manifest their good will toward 
the friar they oflered him many turquoises, dressed ox- 
hides, beautiful drinking vessels, besides conies, 2 quails, 
maize, pine-nuts, and other articles none of which would 
he accept. They were much pleased with the garment 
he wore, which they touched with their iiands and exam- 
ined. They informed him there was an abundance of 
such cloth in the province of Totonteal and that the peo- 
ple of that country dressed in clothes made of it. He 
laughed at this and told them the material was the sam-e 
as the cotton garments they themselves wore ; to which. 

2 Rabbits. 



126 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

the Indians replied : "AVe would have thee think that; 
we understand that that apparel which thou wearest and 
that which we v/ear are of divers sorts. Understand thou 
tliat in Cibola all the houses are full of that apparel which 
v/e wear, and in Totonteal there are certain little beasts 
from whom they take that thing whereof such apparel as 
thou wearest is made." The friar was deeply interested 
in this relation and vvas anxious to know more about the 
matter. He incpiired more particularly of the Indians 
about the little beasts, and was told they were about the 
size of the two spaniels that Stephen carried with him 
and were to be found in great abundance in Totonteal. 3 

In one day from the last mentioned village Niza arrived 
at the desert a,nd continued on across it. About noon 
he came to the bank of a river where an abundance of 
victuals was prepared for him and a bovv^er built for his 
accommodation. He found the same provision made for 
him where he encamped at night, and also daring the 
four days he was crossing the desert. At the end of this 
time he entered a valley well-inhabited. Soon afterward 
he came to a village where he met many people, both 
men and women, bearing hira victuals, all of whom wore 
turquoises suspended from their nostrils and ears, and 
some had collars of the same around the neck. These 
necklaces were single, v.-hile those v/orn by the Lord and 
people of the village on the other side of the desert were 
three or four times double. The inhabitants were dressed 
in skins, the women wearing good waist-coats and other 
garments, with turquoises in the nostrils and ears. 

These Indians professed to have much knowledge of 

3 These "little beasts" were probably a species of mountaiii sheep 
which furnished the wool from which the Indians wore their gar- 
ments. 



THE CONQUEST CF NEW MEXICO. 127 

Cibola. They gave Niza a particular account of the 
manner in which the people bnilt then* houses, their 
lodgings and their market places. They told him they 
had often been to Cibola where they procured all the 
necessary articles for the household, and they confirmed 
all he had previously heard. He doubted that the houses 
were built in the manner related, when the Indians to 
satisfy him that such was the case, " took earth and poured 
water thereupon and showed him how they laid stones 
uj)on it, and hovv'* the building grew up as they continued 
laying stones tliereon until it mounted aloft."* He asked 
if the men of that country had wings by which they were 
enabled to ascend into these lofts, when they showed hiu) 
a well-made ladder and told him that by such means 
they ascended to them. They then took a staff which 
they held up over their heads and said the lofts were of 
that height, one above another. Here he received addi- 
tional information about the woolen cloth of Totonteal, 
and further particulars of the country ; that it was a great 
province with the houses built in the same manner as 
those of Cibola, but v/ere better constructed and in 
greater numbers. The province he v/as novr in had no 
governor. 

Continuing his journey he traveled through this valley 
live days, which he found populous and fertile. It was 
well watered and under a high state of cultivation ; and 
provisions were so abundant that Niza believed three 
thousand horsemen could have been sustained there. 
Some of the villages were a half, and others a quarter of 
a league long. In all of them through which he passed 
lie heard many reports of the seven cities, and the in- 
habitants gave such particular accounts as might be 

i From the Spanish Ms. 



128 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

expected Trom a people who were in close intercourse 
with those of whom they spoke. Here he saw a man who 
M'as born in Cibola, but had escaped from the governor 
or lieutenant of tlie toAvn, and fled to this vallej. He 
said the Lord of the province lived in one of tlie towns 
called Apacus, but appointed lieutenants in all the others 
under his control. Tliis Indian was of a light complexion 
and resembled a European ; was well advancecj in years 
and exhibited more intelligence than the people of the 
A-alley, or any he had previously seen. ' He was anxious 
to return to Cibola, and promised Niza to go there with 
kim if he would intercede with the authorities to induce 
them not to punish him for running away. 

From this Indian Niza learned many additional par- 
ticulars of the country and the towns. He represented 
Cibola as a great city inhabited by a numerous population 
Vv-itli many streets and market places ; that in some parts ' 
of it there were great houses of five stories high in which 
the chief men of the place assembled at certain seasons of 
the year ; that the houses were of hme and stone, and the 
gates and smaller pillars of the principal houses were 
made of turquoises, and all the drinking and ornamental 
vessels were of gold. The other cities of the province 
were built in the same manner as Cibola, some of them 
being larger, and that Apacus, the residence of the lord 
of the province, was the greatest of them all. He stated 
that toward the South-east from Cibola there was a king- 
dom called ]\Iarata, which contained many great cities, 
the houses of which were built with numerous lofts ; and 
that on account of the frequent wars between these two 
kingdoms the towns of the latter were, for tlie most part, 
surrounded by walls. At this time there was peace 
.-Ijetween Marata and the seven cities. 



THE' CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICC. 129 

lie represented the kingdom of Totonteal as an exten- 
•sive province situated toward the West with a numerong 
1 )opulatioii and great riches ; the inhabitants dressed in 
Avoolen cloth such as that worn by the friar, and otliers of 
n finer texture made of the fleece of the animal before 
described to him. They were said to be a quiet and 
peaceable people. He also spoke of the province of 
iVcus, said to be extensive and not a great distance from 
Cibofa. He confirmed all that Niza had previously heard 
concerning the people of Cibola and their mode of dress, 
with additional informa,tion of their customs ; among 
which was that they slept upon beds xa'di canopies over 
theu-i, and had quilts which they spread upon the beds. 
Many of the inhabitants of the valley related to hirii the 
same things in substance, but with less ])articiilarity. 

These relations of the Indians gave Niza renewed hope, 
and he resumed his journey with pleasing anticipations. 
He traveled three da^'s longer through the valley, being- 
followed by a considerable number of the natives. He 
encountered many of the inhabitants who, as usual, pro- 
vided him with provisions and other necessaries. He 
saw more than a thousand ox-hides well dressed and 
tanned, and also a great number of turcpioises, many of 
which had been manufactured into chains^ He was told 
they had been brought from the city of Cibola, where 
there was great abundance, and that they also abouiided 
in the kingdoms of Marata, Acus and Totonteal.s There 
was exhibited to him a hide half as big again as the liide 
of an ox, which they represented as the "skin of a beast 
I that had but one liorn upon his forehead, and that tliis 
horn bendeth toward his head, and that out of the saiCTO 
goeth a point right forward wherein he hath so great 

5 This is written Totoutcac in some parts of the oM record. 
1) 



130 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

strength that it will break anything how strong soever if 
may be, if he run against it, and that tliere are great 
store of these beasts in that country. The color of the 
hide is of the color of a great goat skin, and the hair is a 
finger thick." 

Here Niza received other messengers from Stephen 
with later information of his whereabouts. He sent word 
to the friar that he had arrived at the extremity of the 
desert, and the further he advanced the more he was 
encouraged with tlie news he received concerning tlio 
country. The Indians had not deceived him in anything, 
but as he advanced he found the condition of things the' 
same as represented. He had set up crosses in all the 
ewuntry lie passed through, and used such ceremonies in 
taking possession of the same as he deemed necessary 
under his instructions. 

The Indians requested Niza to remain in their country 
three or four days to make the necessary preparations to 
cross the desert. They told him that from tliat place to 
the desert was a journey of four days, and from the fii'st 
entrance into it to the cities of Cibola was fifteen days 
more ; that if he vrould tarry there they would provide 
liim victuals and otlier necessaries for the trip, and would 
likewise furnish him M'ith men to carry his baggage. He 
accepted their offer and remained with them a few day». 
These Indians were not entirely disinterested. They 
lioped by accompanying Niza to Cibola to be able to re-* 
turn loaded with riches. He spent the time he remained 
among this people in obtaining information of the country 
he was going to, with the manners and customs of the 
people, and other knowledge that might be useful to him. 
For this purpose he called before him a number of the 
Indians and examined them separately, wlio agreed in the 



The conquest of Nli:w Mexico. l3l 

account tliey gave of the population of Cibola, the order 
of the streets, the number of the houses, and the strength 
of the gates. At the end of three days a great multitude 
assembled to occompany him, of whom he selected thirty 
of the principal men for companions, who were well 
■dressed and wore strings of turquoises, and a number of 
others to carry the provisions and baggage.e 

Thus provided and accompanied Niza resumed his 
journey, and on the 9th of ]\Iay he entered the great 
desert. The first day he traveled a very broad and well- 
beaten path. The Indians went in advance to prepare 
accommodations for him, and at noon he arrived at a place 
where there was water and where he found dinner pro- 
vided. At night he encamped at another watering-place 
where they had prepared a house for his accommodation 
with the necessary provisions for his supper. Here he 
rested until morning. 'This point appeared to be the 
usual stopping-place for those going to, and returnino- 
from, Cibola, as there were several old cottages standing- 
about and many signs of fire having been kindled. The 
Indians pointed out the hut they had erected for Stephen 
when he passed along, and in which he had lodo-ed. He 
thus traversed the desert, living upon the flesh of wild 
animals and partridges provided for him by the Indians, 
who also supplied all his other wants. He had advanced 
twelve days toward Cibola, when an Indian who had 
accompanied Stephen, and a son of one of the principal 
men then with Niza, came to him in great fright and with 
a countenance full of sadness announced the death of the 
negro. He related the particulars of the manner in which 



6 For some days, up to this lime, Niz:i was, undoubtedly, travclini! 
along the valley of the river Gila, and when he left it he changed his 
course more to the North-east. 






132 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

it took place, an account of which will be given in the 
next chapter. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 133 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



WHAT HAPPENED TO STEPHEN AT CIBOLA ; NIZA RETURNS 
TO NEW SPAIN. 

The last information that Niza received of Stephen, 
before he heard of his death, was transmitted from the 
valley where he made preparations to cross the great 
desert. He made the passage of the desert in safety, 
accompanied by three hundred Indians, who carried his 
baggage and provisions and attended to all his wants. 
From this point he again resnmed the march for Cibola 
and advanced through the country without molestation, 
the inliabitants everywhere receiving him with kindness, 
giving him turquoises, and presenting him with beautiful 
females for slaves. He carried in his hand a great mace 
made of a gourd with a string of bells upon it, and two 
feathers, one white and the other red, the whole being a 
symbol of peace. It was his custom when he arrived 
near a town, or in the neighborhood of a new people, to 
send the mace forward by the hands of a messenger to 
announce his coming. When within three days' journey 
of Cibola he sent the mace to the town by some Indians, 
with instructions to say that he cam.e npon a friendly 



134 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

mission and requested a safe conduct. Upon tlieir arrival 
they were taken before the chief-magistrate, whom the 
Lord of the province had placed there as his lieutenant,, 
to whom they dehvered the mace. He took it into his 
hands to examine, but when he saw the bells he dashed 
it upon the ground in a great rage and ordered the mes- 
sengers to leave immediately. He said he knew well 
what kind of people they were and that they would not 
be allowed, upon any account, to enter the town, but if 
they should he would put them all to death. The mes- 
sengers were much alarmed, and returned and announced 
the result of tlieir mission to Stephen ; who replied that 
it made but little difference whether they would give him 
permission, or not, to enter Cibola, as he intended to 
proceed on his journey until he should arrive thither. 

He resumed his march and in due time presented him- 
self before Cibola, He found a number of the inhabitants 
awaiting his arrival, as they suspected his coming was for 
an hostile pm-pose. He was not permitted to enter the 
town, but was made prisoner and confined in a large 
house outside, where he was closely guarded. He was 
plundered of all he possessed, including many articles he 
had brought to barter with the inhabitants, and numerous 
turquoises the Indians had given him on the way. They 
kept him confined that night without meat or drink. The 
next day the old men and the caciques assembled in coun- 
cil and had him brought before them, when they questioned 
him as to his motives in coming into their country. He 
told them that he preceded two white meni who had been 
sent thither by their master, a mighty prince, to explore 
the country, and that they were deeply learned in heav^- 

1 One of the friars, it will be remembered, was left behind, sick, ai 
Petatlan. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 135 

enly things in wliicli tliey would instruct the people of 
Cibola. The Indians did not believe this statement, but 
thought him a spy from some powerful nation that wished 
to conquer them ; and above all it seemed impossible that 
lie could come from a country of white men as he was so 
black himself. Besides the suspicious circumstances at- 
tending his arrival, and the natural prejudice of the 
Indians against strangers, Stephen's own conduct placed 
him in a still more unfavorable liglit. He was haughtj', 
mi reasonable in his demands, and treated the people 
without the least consideration. Ho commanded them 
to surrender to him their riches and their women, which 
tliey refused. His conduct satisfied the Indians that he 
was a dangerous man and ought not to be allow^ed to 
regain his liberty. They questioned him for four days, 
and after deliberating upon the case, with all the care its 
importance demanded, they resolved to put him to death. 
If the journal of friru- Niza is to bo relied upon, the 
negro was not executed in accordance with the sentence 
but was killed while attempting to escape. Early the 
next morning after his sentence, about sun-rise, some of 
the chief-men took him from his place of confinement and 
conducted him toward the town. On their way they 
encountered a large crowd of people coming out, and 
when he saw them he became alarmed and started to run. 
The Indians immediately opened a fire of arrows upon 
him and those who had ^aecoinpaiiied him to Cibola, kil- 
ling and wounding many as they ran ; and as Stephen 
was not seen again it is supposed that he was among 
the number slain. Of all those v.'lio had come with hini 
but three escaped, the young Indian who brought the 
information to Niza, and two others. The former was 
on his way to the river that ran near the town, to get a 



lot>. THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

drink of water, wlien the attack was made. BecomiHgr, 
alarmed for his life he liid himself upon the river baidc 
and afterward made his escape into the desert. The two 
other Indians were wounded durinc; the tirins:; and fell 
oovered with blood, buried under the slain. Here they 
remained all day, as they did not dare to get up for fear 
of being seen and killed. From where they lay they had 
a good view of tlie town, and saw many men and women 
keeping Avatch upon the walls, and heard noises inside as 
though the people were astir. At night they made their 
escape and succeeded in regaining the desert, v/here they 
joined some friendly Indians, among whom was the one 
who liad hid upon the river bank.s 

The news of the death of Stephen and the hostility of 
the inha]>itants of Cibola gave Niza great alarm. They 
placed him on liis guard, and he resolved not to sacrifice 
his life, wilfully, as the negro appeared to have done. To 
create a favorable influence upon the Indians he told 
them that God would punish the inhabitants of Cibola, 
and that when the viceroy should hear what had hap- 
pened he would send an army of Christians to chastise 
them. But this they did not believe and said that no 
man was able to stand against tlie power of that city. 
The poor friar was in great uncertainty as to the course he 
ought to pursue under the circumstances, and his situation 
caused him serious reflection. To increase his difliculties 
an Indiani named Marcus, whom he had brought with 

2 There is difference of opinion among the old chroniclers as to the 
number of those who made their escape from Cibohx at the time 
Stephen was liillcd. Castaneda says: "Those who came with him 
were allowed to go away in safety except some young boys whom they 
retained for slaves." He enumerates the whole number who made 
tlielr escape and joined the monk at about sixty, while Xiza says thai 
but three escaped of all those who accompanied the negro thither.. 



THE CONQUEST OF NSW MEXICO. 137: 

liim from Mexico, told him that he had overheard those 
who accompanied him across the desert consulting about 
putting him to death, because they attributed the death, 
of their friends and relatives at Cibola to him and Stephen. 
In order to appease them he divided among them the 
few articles he had retained, which, in some measure, had 
the desired eifect, but they still exhibited great grief at 
the loss they had sustained. He wanted some of them 
to go to Cibola in order to ascertain more reliable infor- 
mation of the fate of Stephen and whether other Indians 
had escaped, but this they declined to do. 

Upon the refusal of the Indians to return to Cibola 
Niza told them that he intended to see the town at all 
liazards and in spite of the dangers that beset him. 
When they saw that he was determined to return two of 
the chiefs, his interpreters and some others, signified their 
willingness to go with him. They resumed the journey 
immediately and arrived in siglit of the town without 
accident. His journal relates that he found it situated 
upon a plain at the fjot of a round hill, and in order tO' 
obtain a better view of it he ascended a neighboring 
mountain. It presented the appearance of a large place 
and was better situated than any other town he had seen. 
The houses were built of stone, several stories high, with 
flat roofs, and arranged in good order. The inhabitants 
were of light complexion, and dressed in cotton goods 
and skins. They slept in beds. Their offensive weapons 
were the l)ow and arrow. They possessed many emeralds 
and other precious stones, but valued turquoises above 
all others. With these they adorned the porches of their 
houses and their dresses, and used them for many other 
purposes of ornament. They had vessels of gold and 
silver, which were said to be in greater use and. more 



138 THE CONQUEST GF NEW MEXICO- 

abundant tlian in Peru. There was said to be no other 
kinds of metal in the conntiy, and they were principally 
obtained from the province of Pintado, in exchange for ^' 
turquoises, where rich mines were said to exist.s 

Niza was not able to obtain any certain and corriect 
information concerning other kingdoms. He was tempted 
several times to visit some of them ; but when he reflected 
that if his life should be lost in the attempt the knowledge 
which he had gained of tlie country and the people would 
die with him he was deterred from the undertakino;. 
When he told the two chiefs who accompanied him what 
a commodious city Cibola seemed to be, the}' answered 
that it was the least of 'the seven cities, that Totonteai 
was the best and greatest of them all, with a great num- 
ber of houses and a large population. Having obtained 
all the information possible concerning the province of 
the Seven Cities, with a description of the country and 
the manners and customs of the inhabitants, he took 
formal possession thereof in the name of the " most hon- 
orable Lord Antonio de J\Iondoza, viceroy and captain- 
general of New Spain," for His J.Iaiesty the Emperor. 
"With the aid of the Indians he raised a lieap of stones 
upon tlie mountain and erected thereon a small wooden 
cross, the symbol of taking possession. '^ He named the • 

province of Cibolo El Naevo Reyno de Scm Francisco^ ^ 

The New Kingdom of Saint Francis. By this same act "^ 

he also took formal possession of the provinces of Toton- ^ 

teal, Acus and Marata. "r 

Having completed this ceremony, and made the neces- 
sary preparations for the march homeward, he set out 
from Cibola on his return to New Galicia ; and, in the .<• v 

3 The accounts given by subsequent explorers prove that Niza's 
statemeEts about Cibola were greatly exaggerated. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 139 

words of the friar himself, he " returned with more fear 
than victuals." At the end of two days he reached the 
place where the Indians had remained behind, with whom 
he traveled until he had crossed the great desert. Here 
lie found the inhabitants in great grief for the loss of 
their relatives and friends who had been killed at Cibola 
Avith Stephen, and they were not able to entertain him as 
they had done before. He therefore hastened from the 
valley, and traveling at the rate of eight or ten leagues 
each day he did not take rest until he had crossed the 
second desert. 

Considering himself now out of danger he turned aside 
from the direct route homeward to visit the great phiin 
extending to the East from the foot of the mountains, 
which is mentioned in a previous chapter. He entered 
upon the edge of it, wlience he saw, at a distance, several 
towns of considerable size, situated in a beautiful green 
valley, with a fruitful soil, and from which many rivers 
ran. He was told that gold abounded in this valley, 
which the people worked into vessels, and thin plates 
" wherewith they strike and take off their sweat." They 
would not permit the inhabitants of the other side of the 
plain to trade with them. Learning that this plain was 
not inhabited for many days' journey he was afraid to 
enter upon it and extended his discoveries no further in 
that direction. He deemed it advisable to leave future 
explorations in that region until the country should be 
occupied by the Spaniards, when they could be prose- 
cuted with more safety, and to return immediately to 
New Spain and give an account of the things he had 
already seen. Here he likewise set up two crosses, and 
took possession of the valley and the plain, as he had 
done before at Cibola and the neighboring provinces. 



140 THCE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

He now resumed bis journey and made all possible 
baste until be arrived at tbe town of San Micbael wbence 
he bad started. He expected to find tbe governor of 
Isew Galecia at tins place, but learning tbat be was at 
Compostella, be proceeded tbitber, wbere be arrived in 
safety, and related to bim an account of bis discoveries 
and adventures. Tbe wliole distance from Cibola to< 
Culiacan was estimated at tbree bundred leagues. 



THE C0NQUES3? OF NEW MEXICO. 141 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE FEIAE EELATES HIS DISCOVERIES TO COEONADO ; A 
SPANISH AEMY MARCHES FOR CIBOLA. 

During the absence of Niza, Coronado was principally 
employed in managing the affairs of his government and 
anxiously awaiting his return. In the meantime he 
made an expedition to the North into the province of 
Topeza, of which the most flattering accounts had been 
given him. He collected a few Spaniards and Indian 
allies and penetrated some distance into the interior, but 
he found everything very different from what it had been 
represented. The mountains were high and rugged, and 
could only be crossed with great difficulty; and the 
whole appearance of the country was uninviting in the 
extreme. He immediately returned to Culiacan where 
he found Niza who had just arrived from Cibola. 

The friar gave Coronado the most exaggerated account 
of all that he had seen and been told by the Indians, 
which excited his mind to such degree that he determined 
to take Niza to Mexico in order that he might relate the 
same to the viceroy. They pretended to make the matter 
a great secret and thereby magnify its importance. Upon 
arriving in Mexico they obtained an audience of the 



142 THE CONQUEST OF NEW IIEXICO. 

viceroy, wlio lent a willing ear to the narrative. The 
friar said that he had found the country of the Seven 
Cities which Guzman had searched for in vain ; had dis- 
covered islands in the South Sea tilled with untold wealth ; 
and that he was engaged in raising an army to conquer 
them. The influence of both the viceroy and the churcli 
was enlisted in the cause, and soon all the pulpits 
resounded with most wonderful accounts of these un- 
known regions. 

Such an interest was excited upon the subject that in 
a few days an army of four hundred S[ianiards and eight 
hundred Indians was raised for the conquest of Cibola. 
The viceroy appointed Don Francisco Vasquez Coronado, 
captain-general of the expedition, both because he was 
the reputed author of the discovery, and a great favorite. 
]Ie is represented as a "good gentleman, and a wise, 
prudent and able man;" but the chronicler of the expe- 
dition intimates that he thought more of the riches and 
the lovely wife he left behind in New Spain, than of the 
honor he enjoyed in leading such a numerous company of 
gallant gentlemen. A majority of the Spaniards who 
took part in the enterprise are reputed to have been men 
of good families, and Castaneda,i who accompanied them, 
■says in his journal, " I doubt whether there has ever been 

1 But little is known of Castafieda the historian of the expedition. 
As his name is not found in the list of oflicers, it is supposed that he 
was a common soldier. He was evidently a man of education and ac- 
customed to writing ; and his narrative is superior to most of those 
composed at that period. Upon the return of the Spaniards to New 
Spain from Cibola, he established himself at Culiacan where he wrote 
his work. lie left it behind him in manuscript covering one hundred 
and forty-seven pages, written on paper in characters of the times, 
and covered with parchment. It was preserved in the collection of 
D'Uguina, Paris, and was translated and published iu French for the 
Jirst time by H. Tcrnaux Campans, in 1838. 



THE COKQUjEST CF KEW MEXICO, 143 

collectecT in the Indias so brilliant a troop, particularly 
for the small number of four hundred men." 

The viceroy having caused Coronado to be proclaimed 
and recognized as captain-general, proceeded to appoint 
the captains and other chief officers. Castaneda says; 
"He chose for standard-bearer of the army Don Pedro de 
Tobar, a young cavalier, son of Don Hernando de Tobar, 
chief Mayor-Domo of the late queen Joanna, our legiti- 
mate sovereign whose soul be in Clod's keeping. He 
gave the place of Colonel to Lope de Samaniego, 
governor of the arsenal of Mexico, and a chevalier we!!' 
worthy this station. The captains were Don Tristan de 
Arellano, Don Pedro de Que vara, son of Don Juan de 
Quevara, and nephew of the count of Ofiate, Don Garcia 
Lopez de Cardenas, Don Rodrigo Maldonado, brother-in- 
law of the duke of Infantado, Diego Lopez, member of the 
council of Sevilla^ and Diego Gutierrez, captain of 
cavalry." Besides these enumerated there were many 
other distinguished cavaliers who held no command or 
rank, but were placed under the >)nmediate orders of the 
captain-general. 

The expedition being fully organized, the viceroy 
designated Compostella,^ the capital of New Galecia, and 
one hundred and ten leagues from Mexico, as the point 
where the army was to assemble. It marched to the 
place of rendezvous in separate columns, owing to the 
ditticulty of subsisting the whole command in a body; 
and the detachment to which Castaneda was attached ar- 
rived there in good order on Shrove Tuesday, 1540. At 
the same time two vessels under the command of Don 
Pedro Alarcon, were- ordered to sail from Natividad and 

2 Compostella is an nuimportant Mexican town situated in the State 
of Jalisco, a few miles Soutli-east of Sa,n Bias, on the Pacific coast. 



144 THE co:":quest of xE:^y .Mexico. 

follow tlie coast as far as Xalisco, in order to transport 
sneli baci^gage as the soldiers could not carry ^Yitll them. 
He was directed to continue along the coast in comran- 
nication with the army on its march to Cibola, but the 
route of Coronado diverged so much toward the interior 
that the land and sea forces could not hold intercourse 
with each other. 

After all the detachments were in march, the viceroy 
left Mexico for Compostella accompanied by a numerous 
company of gentlemen. He was received and welcomed 
everj^where with many demonstrations of delight. He 
spent New Year's day at Pascuaro, the capital of Mic- 
hoacan, where festivities were held in honor of hi.- 
arrival. He found all the troops assembled at Compostellu 
when he arrived there. After reviewing the army, he 
addressed the soldiers upon the importance of the 
expedition they were about to undertake, and the great 
results that would probably flow from the discovery and 
settlement of the country of the Seven Cities. Ho 
impressed upon them the duty they owed their ofiicerf. 
and caused each one to take an oath upon a missal con- 
taining the four gospels, to obey their general in every 
particular, and never abandon him. He also obliged the 
officers to be acknowledged anew by the whole army. 

-The force, including Indians, servants and camp fol- 
lowers, numbered some fifteen liundred men with a 
thousand horses. There were collected, to drive along 
with the army, five thousand sheep and one hundred and 
fifty eows of Spanish breed, for the purpose of supplying 
the new settlements that might be made. The arrange- 
ments being now complete the army commenced its 
marcli the next day after the arrival of the viceroy, being 
nearly in the month of January, 1541. The troops as 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 145 

tliey marched out the city with colors fljinof and trumpets 
sounding, and with the bright beams of the morning sun 
flashing upon the burnished armor of tlie proud cavahers, 
presented a martial and brilliant appearance. The officers 
•and men were burning with enthusiasm, and returned in 
loud shouts the acclamations of the populace who thronged 
the streets and house-tops. The viceroy accompanied 
the army two days on the march, when he turned back 
and retraced his steps toward Mexico. 

While the army is on the march let us leave it for a 
moment and glance at the province of Culiacan, and the 
manners and customs of the inhabitants. The town of 
this name w^'as the last inhabited place in the kingdom of 
New Galecia and the first founded by Nufio de Guzman, 
distant two hundred and ten leagues from the city of 
Mexico. The natives of the province spoke three prin- 
cipal languages, besides numerous dialects of which no 
mention is made. The first tribe enumerated was called 
the Tahus, which was the most civilized and had made 
some progress in a knowledge of the Catholic religion. 
They were not cannibals, but were far sunk in supersti- 
tion and savage fierceness. They worshij)ped the devil, 
to whom they made ofiferings of their wordly goods ; and 
they held in great veneration a large serpent which they 
raised and preserved with care. They did not sacrifice 
human victims. It was customary for women to devote 
themselves to a life of celebacj^ in honor of whom great 
and indecent festivals were held. All the caciques of the 
district came together, and, in a state of nudity, danced 
with the candidates for single-blessedness, after which the 
ceremonies were concluded with beastly orgies. Upon 
such occasions the women took upon themselves certain 
obligations from which they were not released, althouo-h 
10 



•146 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

•tLey liiiglit subsequentlj inany. Before nianiagc fne 
hrido Mas obliged to surrender lier person to the cacique, 
who was regarded as a kind of high priest ; and if she 
was not a virgin her parents were compelled to restore to 
the husband all he had given her, and he also had the 
choice of keeping her as his wife or forcing her to become 
a public woman. This was also the occasion of great 
festivities and orgies. The second language of the prov- 
ince was that spoken by the Pacasas, a tribe less civihzed 
and intelligent than the Talius, who ate human flesh and 
worshipped stones. Poligamj prevailed among them, and 
•a man married several sisters. They owned the country' 
between the phiin and tlie mountains. The third and 
last language was that spoken by the Acaxas, who differed 
but little from the Pacasas. They, also, were cannibals, 
and hunted men to eat in the same manner as wild 
animals. They adorned their houses with the skulls and 
bones of their victims, and those who could show the 
greatest number of sucli trophies were most feared and 
respected. They had frequent wars among themselves 
when they devoured each other in great numbers. They 
built their villages in places difficult of access and sepa- 
rated by impassable ravines. Gold mines abounded in 
the country, but none of them were very productive. 

We took leave of the army two days out of Con>- 
postella, whence it advanced into the interior by easy 
and regular marches. The troops were much en- 
cumbered with baggage, which had to be transported 
on horses ; and as the soldiers did not understand 
packing the animals, they soon became so much dit+- 
couraged that many threw their baggage away rather 
than be troubled with it. The most refined gentlemen 
were compelled to be their own muleteers, and necessity 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 147 

<?)bliged the noble and the low-born to perform the same 
menial service. After a fatiguing march the army 
reached the village of Chiametla where the provi- 
sions began to fail, and it was obliged to halt tliere for 
some days in order to procure a fresh supply. While at 
that place the colonel, Lope de Samaniego, was killed by 
the Indians. His loss was deeply felt by the whole army. 
He went out one day with a few men to a neigliboring 
village, when the Indians suddenly fell upon them, killing 
him by an arrow shot through the head, and wounding 

;live or six of his men. His body was recovered and 
buried with the honors of war. As punishment to the 
Indians all the inhabitants of that village were put to 

• death. Here some dissatisfaction arose among the troops, 
and many desired to leave and return to Mexico. 

While the army lay at Chiametla, two officers, Melchor 
Dias and Juan de Saldibar, whom Coronado had dis- 
patched with a dozen men to make an exploration toward 
Cibola at the time he left Culiacan'to go to Mexico with 
the friar, returned from their expedition. They had gone 
as far as the great desert, when, becoming discouraged, 
they turned back. When it became known in camp that 
this party had made no important discoveries tlie ardor 
of the troops abated. The friar, who seemed determined 
that the expedition should advance at every hazard, tooJ< 
it upon himself to contradict the rumors spread abroad, 
and denied that Dias and Saldibar had failed in their 
exploration ; but represented that they had discovered a 
good country, and that all who were able to reach it would 
be sure to return richer in worldly goods. This assured 
the soldiers in some degree, though they were not fulh^ 
satisfied that what tlie holy father told them was true. 

.Having collected sufficient provisions, the army, resumed 



148 THE CONQUEST Ot KEW MEXICO. 

its marcli toward Culiacan, and arrived within two leagneg- 
of that place on Easter eve. The inhabitants came out 
to welcome it, but requested Coronado to postpone his 
entrance into the town until the day after the festival* 
and he accordingly encamped outside. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 149 



CHAPTER XX. 



'm.B ARjMY enters CULIACAN ; COEONADO MARCHES IN 
ADVANCE TO CIBOLA. 

The army entered Ciiliacan the next day after Eastei:. 
The troops were met a short distance outside the town 
by the inhabitants, who were drawn up in order of battle 
in a large field and armed with cannon and small arms. 
.After some welcoming ceremonies had been held, the 
opposing forces engaged in a sham fight for the amuse- 
ment of the populace, the citizens falling back upon the 
.town which the army assaulted and entered in triumph. 
This mimic warfare passed oft' with great eclat, and the 
only accident recorded is that caused by the premature 
discharge of a gun by which one man lost his arm. The 
inhabitants whom Castaiieda says were " all honorable 
men," extended a generous hospitality to the army ; 
a-eceiving both officers and men into their houses, although 
good quarters had been provided for them outside the town. 
The chronicler of the expedition says that this kind treat- 
ment was not disadvantageous to the inhabitants as the 
■officers were obhged to leave mth them the greater part 
tof their .baggage for want of transportation. He even 



160 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

intimates that the prospect of this spoil had something to > 
do with their hospitality. 

The army rested at Culiacan a month ; provisions were 
plenty and the inhabitants supplied them liberally. 
While here a little incident occurred which I record in 
the words of the chronicler himself: " Sometime before- 
the departure of the general there happened a quite 
amusing event which I will here relate.- A young soldier 
named Truxillo pretended to have had a vision while 
])athing in the river. He was brought before the general 
in much alarm, and related that the demon had appeared 
^£> him and said : ' If thou wilt kill thy general I will 
niarry thee to Dona Beatrice his wife, and will give thee 
great treasures.' He added a great many tales, and Iriar 
Marcos made thereupon a fine sermon, pretending that 
the demon, alarmed at the fruit the expedition, promised, 
used all his efforts to prevent it. Not only was the whole 
army persuaded of this, but the monks who were in. 
company wrote it to their convents in Mexico, and for 
a long time all the pulpits re-echoed this adventure, add- 
ing to it a quantity of fables. The general ordered 
Truxillo to quit the army and remain at Culiacan, and it 
\vas precisely for this that he had invented this deception 
as was afterwards made known." 

The general, impatient to penetrate the unknown country 
of the Seven Cities, determined to go in advance with a 
few chosen men, leaving the army to follow more at 
leisure. Under the orders of the viceroy he appointed 
Hernandarias Saa^'eard, his lieutenant, to replace him in. 
the government of the province during liis absence ; and 
Don Tristan de Arellano was named to succeed him in 
the command of the army. He set out fifteen days after 
jiis arrival in Culiacan, taking with him fifty cavaliers, a 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW :\IEXICO. 151 

few foot soldiers, his most intimate friends, and all tlie 
monks, as none of the latter were willing to remain be- 
hind. The army was to follow fifteen days afterward. 
The little party took their departure in high spirits. 
After marching three days a priest, named Antonio 
Yictorio, broke his thigh and was sent back to Culiacau, 
which caused a little delay. Putting themselves en route 
again, they traveled through the country without inter- 
ruption. The Indians were all friendly ; many of them 
having seen friar Marcos on his previous journey 
professed great friendship for the Spaniards. They 
passed through the v;hole of the inhabited country and 
arrived in good order at Chichilticale, i where the desert 

1 We are able to trace the march of Coronado accl his army through 
New Mexico without much if any doubt as to the course he took. 
Leaving the town of Culiacan, in the Mexican State of Cinaloa, he 
inarched to the North-west nearly parallel to the coast of the gulf of 
California. At what point he crossed the Gila river I am unable to 
determine with auy degree of accuracy, but suppose it to have been at 
or near the place where the Casas Grandes are located. The ruins 
called Chichilticale I believe to have been upon the Gila, although no 
mention is made of any river at or near that point ; but as few of the 
many rivers the army crossed are mentioned in the journal of Casta- 
ueda, the failure to notice the Gila is no evidence against my location 
of Chichilticale upon that stream. 

The earliest records we have of New Mexico contain a notice of tho 
rains of large houses on the Gila called Casas Grandes, the origin of 
which has caused considerable speculation among antiquarians. Albert 
Gallatin, in a paper addi'essed to the American Ethnological Society, 
gives the following account of these ruins. 

"The rains of ancient buildings, known by the name of Casas 
Grandes, ascribed to the Azteques, and called the second and third 
stations, are evidently of the same character as the ancient buildings of 
Cibola ; most probably the remains of some of them. We have no 
description of the most Southern of these Casas Grandes. The father 
Pedro Pont has given the description of the great house situated near 
the river Gila, considered as the second station of the Azteques, and 
which he visited in the year 1775. The ruins of the houses v/hich 



152 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

begins. Coronado had now completed an important 
stage in the expedition, and lie was much dispirited and 
out of heart at the result. Thus far he had seen nothing 
that was encouraging. The country for the most part 

foimed the town extended more than a league toward the East, and 
the ground was covered with broken vases and painted pottery. 
•' The house itself is a parallelogram, facing precisely the four cardinal 
points, East,^ West, North and South; extending seventy feet long 
from North to South, and fifty wide from East to West. It consists of 
five halls, three intervals, thirty-eight feet by twelve ; and they are 
eleven feet high. The edifice had been three stories and probably 
tour, counting one underground. There was no trace of stairs which 
probably were wooden and burnt when the Apaches set the building 
on fire. The whole building is made of earth ; the interior walls being 
four feet thick and well constructed, and the external six feet thick, 
and shelving outside. The timber work consisted partly of mesquit, 
principally of pine, though the nearest pine forest was twenty-five 
leagues distant. Facing the eastern gate, which is separated from the 
house, there is another hall twenty-six feet by eighteen, inside. 
Toward the South-west there is a remnant of construction one-stoiy 
high. Around the whole there are indications of an external wall 
which included the house and other buildings. The wall was, inside, 
four hundred and twenty-eight feet from North to South, and two hun- 
dred and twenty-six from East to West. From some remains of mud 
walls (torchis), and some scattered blocks, it appears that there had 
been a canal to bring water from the river to the town."' 

General Emory, of the United States army, in his reeonnoisance along 
the Gila on his march to California, makes the following note of the 
ruins upon tha,t stream: 

" The ruins of the Gila were first seen in longitude about one hun- 
dred and nine degrees, twenty minutes. Thence to the Pijmos village 
distant about one hundred and sixty miles in a straight line, the ruins 
were seen in gieat abundance, and wherever the mountoins did not 
shut out the valley. They are sufficient to indicate a very great former 
population. In one place between one hundred and eleven and one 
hundred and twelve degrees there is a long wide valley, twenty miles 
in length, much of which is covered with the ruins of baildings and 
broken pottery. 

" These ruins are uniformly of the same kind. Not one stone now 
remains on the top of another or above the ground. They are dis- 
coverable by the broken pottery in the vicinity, and by stones laid ics 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 153 

was mountainous and barren, and only inhabited by un- 
civilized and wrQtched Indians. Chicliilticale, instead of 
being a fine, large town as represented, dwindled down 
to a single mud house in ruins ; and the only consolation 

regular order on a level with the ground, and showing the traces of the 
foundation of houses. Most of these outlines are rectangular, and vary 
from fifty to two hundred and four hundred feet front. The stones are 
unhewn and mostly amygdaloid, rounded by attrition. 

" The implement for grinding corn, and the broken pottery, are the 
only vestiges of mechanical arts among the ruins with the exception 
of a few ornaments, principally large well turned beads, the size of a 
hen's egg. The same corn grinder and pottery are now in use among 
the Pijmos. The first consists of two large stones slightly concave and 
convex, fitting each other, and intended to crush the corn by the pres- 
sure of the hand." 

In addition to the above, I make the following extracts from Casta- 
neda upon the subject of the ruins seen by Coronado : 

" The name of Chicliilticale was formerly given to this place because 
the monks found in the vicinity a house which had long been inhabited 
by a tribe that came from Cibola. The house was large and seemed 
to have served as a fortress. It appears that It was anciently destroyed 
by the inhabitants who compose the most barbarous nation yet found 
In these regions." 

" He was above all distressed at finding that this Chichilticale of 
which so much had been said dwindled down to a house In ruins and 
roofless^but which, however, seemed to have been fortified. It was 
evident this house, built of rtd-earth, was the work of civilized people 
who had come from a distance." 

I find it stated in the journal of Don Antonio de Otermln, of 1681, 
that the Casas Grandes were eighty leagues distant from El Paso, 
which would be from two hundred to two hundred and forty miles. 
At this time there were a few settlers at that point, two of whom raised 
corn. In my location of the ruins of Chichilticale, I am sustained by 
lieutenant Whipple, who says, "Chichilticale, meaning Red House, 
is the often described ruin of the present day, in the valley of the 
Rio Gila, near the Plraa villages," which Is the location of Casas 
Grandes. 

The army pursued substantially the same route that Nlza and the 
negro had traversed, and In a little more than fifteen days after cross- 
ing the desert reached Cibola. 



154 THE C9NQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

connectsd with it was the probability that it had been 
built by a civilized people who came from a distance. 
Before him spread a. boundless desert which would require 
many days to cross at the e:xpense of great suft'ering and 
fatigue, and beyond lay the unknown region he sought 
to explore and conquer. The situation of things was 
g-ioomy, and it was impossible for him to repress a feeling 
of sadness. His thoughts turned upon Dona Beatrice 
and the pleasant home he had left behind in the valley 
of Mexico, and he sighed to return to them. The as- 
surances he received from his companions that he was 
certain to find wonderful things further on failed to restore 
his spirits, for he had so often found their statements 
false that he could no longer believe them. 

Gloomy as the prospect was Coronado determined to 
advance, and he accordingly left Chichilticale and entered 
upon the desert traveling a North-east course. For the 
space of fifteen days they continued across the barren and 
sandy country scorched by the sun, athirst for the want 
of water, and wearied by their bodily fatigues. At the 
end of this time they came to a narrow river»on the banks 
of which they encamped, some eight leagues from Cibola. 
They named the stream Bio Vermejo2 on account*of the 
reddish hue of the water in which they caught mullets 
that resembled those of Spain. Here they six^v the first 
Indians of the country, who took to flight as soon as they 
were discovered. The next evening, when about two 
leagues from the town, some Iii'lians were seen watching 
their movements from a height that could not be reached. 
When Coronado and party came into view they raised 
piercing cries that spread alarm among the Spaniards ; 
and Castaneda records that some of them were so much 

2 Rio Colorado Chiquito. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 155 

frightened that they " saddled their horses wrong end 
foremost." The soldiers scoured the country in pursuit 
of the Indians but all succeeded in making their escape. 
The next day they entered the inhabited country and 
came in sight of Cibola, but they were so much disap- 
pointed in its appearance that they broke out in 
maledictions against friar Marcos. 

Instead of the large city as the friar had represented, 
they found it to be a village of not more than two hun- 
dred warriors, situated upon a rock, and the oidy means 
of reacliing it was by a narrow and tortuous road difficult 
of ascent.3 The houses were three and four stories high, 
and several were built around one court-yard. The 
province was composed of seven towns some of them- 
much better built and larger than Cibola. Instead of 
linding the inhabitants peaceable and ready to welcome 
tliem, as was expected, the Avarriors were drawn up in 
battle a short distance from the town waiting their ap- 
proach. Coronado ordered the interpreter to summon 
them to surrender, but they took no further notice of it 
than to reply with menacing gestures. He now deter- 
mined to attack them. Placing himself at the head of 
his escort, they cliarged under the favorite war cry of 
' ' Santiago." The Indians fled the field without resistance 
and retired to the town. This was next attacked, but 
was not taken without resistance. The only approach 
to is was up the narrow and steep pathway that led froui- 

3 It will be seen that the location of this town is not the same as the 
one Niza saw, which he states was situated upon a plain at the foot o^ 
a hill ; while the one Coronado visited was upon a rock. It is doubt- 
ful whether they visited the same place, although both towns, na 
doubt, were in the province of Cibola. The location of the village 
seen by Coronado, and the approaches to it, answer so well to ZvmL 
Miat there can be no mistake about their identity. 



156 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

the valley to the top of the rock, and which the Indians 
had prepared to defend. As the Spaniards advanced up 
the ascent to the assault, they were received with a 
shower of arrows and large stones hurled down upon 
them. Coronado was felled to the earth, and he would 
have been killed had not two of the cavaliers thrown 
themselves before his body and received the blows in- 
tended for him. The Indians fought with bravery, but 
were not able to withstand the attack, and in one hour 
Cibola was carried and the enemy beaten. The town 
was found well stored wnth provisions, and as the Span- 
iards stood in great need of them they were taken 
possession of for the use of the army. In a short time 
the whole province made terms and peace was restored. 
Here, for the ])resent, I will leave the general and return 
to the army which was left at Culiacan. 

In fifteen days after the departure of Coronado the 
army set out under the command of Don Tristan de 
Arellano. All, both officers and men, marched on foot 
with lance on the shoulder and provisions strapped on 
the back; the horses being loaded with baggage and extra 
provisions. The advance was slow and difficult. The 
first province they entered was the one which Cabeza de 
Yaca had called Tlerra de los Corazones. Here Arellano 
founded a city which he called San Hieronimo de los 
Corazones, which was afterward abandoned and the set- 
tlement transferred to another point. From this place 
he sent a party under Don Itodrigo Maldonado dowm the 
river to the gulf (California), to search for the vessels 
which had been ordered to follow the coast and hold 
communication with the army. They returned in a few 
days without having heard anything of the vessels, and 
brino-iDo; with them an Indian so tall that he was the 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 157 

wonder of all who beheld him. The tallest Spaniard 
could no more than reach up to his breast, and it was 
said that there were many people on the coast still taller 
than he. The army now crossed the river to await further 
orders from the general. Here it remained encamped 
nntil about the middle of October, when two cavaliera, 
Melchor Dias and Juan Gallego, arrived with instructions 
for it to hasten forward to Cibola. Dias was ordered to 
remain in command at the new settlement for the pur- 
pose of colonizing it and endeavoring to open a commu- 
nication with the fleet, while Gallego was directed to 
return to Mexico and give an account of the discoveries 
to the viceroy. He took with him friar Marcos who 
dared not trust himself any longer in Cibola because 
everything he had said about the country turned out to 
be false, and the soldiers were much incensed against 
him. They found neither powerful kingdoms, beautiful 
and populous cities, nor the gold, silver and rich stufls 
that had been promised them. The army made the 
necessary preparations for the march to Cibola. Eightv 
chosen men were left with Dias to garrison the town, 
besides all who were not considered hardy enough to 
stand the fatigues of the march. It appears that Arellano 
accompanied the army no further than this point, but 
remained in command of those who were not able to 
endure the hardships of the campaign. The journal of 
Castaneda is silent as to the reason of his remaining be- 
hind, by whose orders, and who took command of the 
army in his place. 



[58 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 



-THE AKMY r.EACIIES CIBOLA ; EXPEDITION OF DIAS TO THE 

COAST. 

The army left San Ilieronimo de los Corazones soon 
after the middle of October. It advanced toward Cibola 
Avitliout opposition from the Indians, for Coronado 
had left all the provinces throngh which he passed at 
peace. In the province of Nacapan the inhabitants gave 
•the soldiers a preserved fruit of the cactns, called tunas, 
or India figs, which produced a dangerous sickness among 
them. Tliej were seized with a burning fever and severe 
head-ache immediately after eating them, which lasted 
for twenty-four hours, and entirely disabled them for 
that time. They struck the desert at Chichilticalo, the 
same point where Coronado had entered it. Here Cas- 
taneda and some of the soldiers saw a flock of sheep, of 
vrhich the following account is given in his journal. lie 
says : " I also saw and followed them ; they were very 
large — had very long horns and hair. When they wish 
to run they throw back the head, so that their horns. lie 
along the back. They run so rapidly that we could not 
catch them, and were obliged to let them go." Three 
■ days from this place, while marching upon the bank of a 
.river that ran through a deep ravine, they found a large 



TJIE COXQUESTCF NEW MEXICO. 159 

liorn Vvliicli is said to have been " a fathom and a half in 
length ; tlie base was as hirge as one's thigh ; it resembled 
in shape a goat's horn, and was a curious thing." It had 
also been seen by Coronado. The desert was crossed in 
tifte^n daj^s, without anything occurring worthy of note. 
Within one day's march of Cibola they encountered a 
furious hurricane, followed by a severe snow storm. The 
cold was so severe that many of the Indians who accom- 
panied them perished. Late in the night they obtained 
partial shelter under some rocks, wiiich, to some extent, 
]>rotccted them from the storm. The Indians suffered 
much more than the Spaniards, not having been accus- 
tomed to such cold weather ; and besides those frozen to 
death many were so much benumbed that they could not 
walk the next day, and had to be carried on horseback.. 
The army reached Cibola the iiext day, where the general 
was very anxiously awaiting its arrival, and Vvdiere ho had 
comfortable quarters already prepared for it. 

While the troops are resting from their fatigues in the 
comfortable rpiarters at Cibola, let us turn back to see 
what is taking place at Los Corazones where, it will be 
remembered, a small garrison had been left under Dias. 
Boon after the army marched disorders and mutinies 
broke out among the soldiers, and tiie place was a scene 
of constant confusion. Dias with twenty-five men went 
in search of the sea-coast, leaving Diego de Alcarraz in 
command of the garrison. Provided with suitable guides 
he started, and after marching one hundred and fifty 
leaguesi in a South-west direction he arrived anion «• a 
nation of prodigious stature.2 They lived in cabins made 



1 Thi3 distance must be greatly overestimated, 

2 Probably the same nation wheuce Maldonado brotight tJie tall 
Indian mentioned in the last chapter. 



/ 



160 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



of straw with the root' only above ground, and with two 
doors in opposite sides, one of egress and the other of 
regress. The cabins were large and more than an hun- 
dred persons slept in one of them. The inhabitants were 
savages and went naked. They carried burdens ypon 
the head of the weight of three or four quintals ; and one 
of them carried a piece of wood with ease that six Spani- 
ards could not lift, and placed it upon the fire. They 
raised maize which they made into loaves and baked it 
under the ashes. When they traveled in cold weather 
they carried a lire brand in their hands with which they 
warmed themselves. Here Dias struck a large river called 
Tizon, and which took its name from the custom of the 
inhabitants carrying fire brands. It was half a league 
wide at this point. The captain heard of the vessels he 
was in search of and started down the river to look for 
them. On his way he came to a tree'with the inscription 
upon it, " Alarcan has come as far as this ; there are let- 
ters at the foot of this tree." The letters were found, 
as indicated, in the ground, which informed them that 
Alarcan had waited sometime for them at that point and 
then returned to New Spain. They also contained the 
information that California was not an island, as had been 
supposed, but a peninsula ; and that the water the vesssels 
were then in was a gulf, and not the South sea. 3 

Dias now determined to march up the river and cross 
over and then to seek the coast by continuing toward the 
South-west. They followed the river bank five or six 

3 Dias and his party must have marched to the North-west instead of 
South-west, and the large river he discovered was undoubtedly the 
Colorado of the West, which empties into the Gulf of California at its 
head. There is no river to the South-west of Los Corazones which 
answers the description of the one he discovered, and his starting point 
was far below the head of the gulf. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW 1VIEXIC0. 161 

• 'days Avlien they came to a point at which they conchided 
'they would be able to cross on rafts, where Miey en- 
' camped. They called in a number of the inhabitants of 
tlie surrounding country to assist in cutting down trees 
and constructing rafts. In the meantime the Indians 
laid a plot to massacre them, but it was discovered before 
there Avas time to put it ir to execution. They intended 
to attack the Spaniards while crossing the river or after 
a part of them had crossed, and were thus divided ; and 
the hope of accomplishing their designs induced them to 
assist in making the rafts. A soldier while out walkino; 
one day, saw a large party of armed Indians passing- 
through a wood toward the river, apparently watching 
for the Spaniards to cross over. His suspicions being 
aroused he communicated wdiat he had seen to Dias. An 
, Indian was immediately secretly confined and put to the 
torture, wdien Tie exposed the whole plot. Their plan 
was that the Indians, on the rafts crossing with the 
Spaniards, w^ere to throw them overboard, while those 
on shore were to be attacked at the same time and over- 
powered. The savage who had divulged the conspiracy 
was quietly drow^ned by sinking him in the river without 
lelting hjs companions know that tliej^ were suspected. 
The next morning the . Indians, having a suspicion that 
their intentions were known to the Spaniards, commenced 
the attack without waiting for them to begin to cross 
the river. They discharged a multitude of arroAvs, but 
being charged, by the horsemen armed with lances, and a 
warm fire opened upon them by the archers, they were 
soon put to flight and retreated into the wood. The 
passage of the river was then begun, the Indian allies 
manning the raft, and in a short time the wdiole pai-ty, 
inen and horses, were safely landed on the opposite sidie. 
11 



162 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXTCC?. 

They imraediately resumed their march down tlrg 
stream toward the gulf, and soon arrived in a district 
of country that had been subject to volcanic action. Cas- 
tafieda describes it as " a place covered with ashes so hot 
tliat it was impossible to marcli over it, for they might 
as well have drowned themselves in the sea. The earth 
trembled like a drum, which caused the supposition of 
subterraneous lakes, and the ashes boiled in some places 
in a manner truly infernal." Tliis route being considered 
dangerous they changed their direction a little and con- 
tinued on. A few days after^ captain Dias received an 
accidental wouad which caused his death and terminated 
the expedition. A greyhound, belonging to a soldier, 
having attacked some sheep they were driving along for 
provisions, the captain threw his lance at the dog to drive 
]nm away. It struck the ground point upward, and as 
he was not able to check his horse, whictf \vas going at a 
gallop, he rode directly upon the point which pierced his 
tliigh and inflicted a mortal wound, lie lived twenty 
days. After his death the party retraced their steps, and 
arrived at their place of starting w^ithout further casualty, 
notwithstanding the Indians harassed them a good deal. 
During the absence of the expedition aft'airs do ii^ot appear 
to have gotten on very smoothly at the garrison. 
Alcarraz proved an inefficient officer, and the soldiers 
ao-ain became mutinous ; two of them were condemned 
to be hanged, but they made their escape l^efore they 
could be executed. He sent messengers to Cibola with 
information of the condition of things, and Coronado 
detailed Don Pedro de Tobar to return and endeavor to 
quell the disturbance. He received instructions to remove 
the most mutinous from the post. 

Tobar arrived at a critical moment. The Indiaiis 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 16.1 

•around the garrison were becoming quite hostile, and a 
soldier had just died from a wound inflicted by a poisoned 
Mrrow. He sent Alcarraz to a neighboring district called 
the "Valley of the Eogues," to make the caciques 
prisoners to h.(Ad as hostages for the good behavior of 
their people. They were captured without difiiculty, but 
were soon set at liberty again for a ransom of articles 
which the soldiers stood in great need of. The Indians 
immediately took up arms and attacked the Spaniards. 
They used poisoned arrows, and succeeded in killing a 
good many and wounding several others. The poison 
was so powerful that all who were penetra,ted by the ar- 
rows died in a short time, and no remedy could save 
them. One of the men went mad, and his flesh instantly 
putrified. The hostility of the Indians induced Tobar to 
remove the garrison forty leagues in the direction of 
Cibola, where he established a nev/ post in the valley of 
Snya. Here I Vv-ill leave him for the present to give 
some account of the people between Culiacan and Cibola. 
Twenty leagues from Culiacan was the province of 
Petatlan, so named from the material with which the 
inhabitants built their houses, petates, (rush-mats) ; and 
the same material was used in all the provinces to the 
beginning of the desert of Cibola. The villages were 
built in a valley between the mountains and the sea, on 
the bank of a river, and were very populous. But little 
is known of these people. The next province was that of 
Sonora, one hundred and eighty leagues from Petatlan, 
of which some account has already been given. Several 
small villages were found between these two provinces, 
the names of some of which are given as folloAvs, viz. : 
Sinaloa, Boyomo, Tcocomo and Yaquimi. Sonora took 
its name from a river and a valley, and tlie inhabitants 



^G4 the conquest of new MEXICO. 

were more luimerous and superior in intelligence to anS' 
Indians hitherto seen. The "women wore a petticoat of 
dressed deer-skin, and another garment that came down 
to the middle. In each village was a small earthen emi- 
nence which the cacique mounted every im)rning and for 
more than an hour proclaimed aloud to the people the 
work each one had to do during the day.4 Their places 
of religious worship were snudl houses, but nothing is said 
of their forms and ceremonies. When they expected war 
they struck up a row of arrows around their places of 
worship. 

From Sonora to the valley of Suya, where the village 
of San Hieronimo was rebuilt, was forty leagues. Here 
were several Indian towns, with the same manners, cus- 
toms and religion, with few exceptions, as the other 
provinces to the beginning of the desert at Chichilticalo. 
Tlic men drank a liquor made from the fruit of the cactus, 
called the wine of Pitihaya, and they were addicted to 
intoxication. The M'omen painted the chin and around 
the eyes in the same manner as the women of Barbary. 
Tliey made preserves of the tunas, the juice of whicli was 
sweet enough to preserve them. Melons were raised in 
abundance and of an enormous size ; they were preserved 
for use by being cut into thin slices and dried in the sun, 
when they had the taste of dried figs. They made bread 
of the berries of tlic mesquit-tree — it was baked in loaves 
like cheeses and would keep sweet the whole year. Tame 
eagles were found in tlie houses of the caciques, and were 
greatly prized ; and hens, resembling those of Spain, were 
seen in the valley of Suya, but not elsewhere. AVild 
sheep and goats of Jarge size and with great horns were 

4 A similar custom still prevails among the Pueblo ludians of New 
•Mexico . 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 165 

seen in flocks of an hundred in some parts of the country, 
but the Spaniards were never able to capture any of 
tjiem,. 



166 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



A FUETHER ACCOUNT OF CIBOLA ; AN EXrEDITlON MARCHES 
TO THE PROVINCE OF TUSAYAN AND THE RIVER TIZON. 

At the close of the last chapter we left the army united 
at Cibola. But before I relate what took place there, 
and the operations put on foot from that point to explore 
and conquer -the surrounding country, it will be in place 
to give some account of the great desert crossed to reach 
Cibola, with the manners and customs of the people of 
that province. • 

The name of Chichilticale was given by the monks to 
the last house on the edge of the desert, and which had 
formerly been inhabited by a tribe of people who came 
from Cibola. The word Chichalti in the language of the 
country signified house, and it was supposed that this 
might be the name of the people ; though it was the 
opinion of Casteneda that the building had been erected 
by a more civilized race. It was large, and had the 
appearance of having been a fortress, and was supposed to 
have been destroyed by the inhabitants of the surromid- 
ing country, who were represented as the most barbarous 
people of all that region. The country was a desert ; 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 167 

the soil was red and covered witli small pine trees, tlie 
Ijranclies of wliicli extended down the trunk to within 
five feet of the ground. There was also seen a kind 
of oak which bore an acorn very sweet to the taste, i 
Throughout this region were a few miserable inhabitants 
Avho subsisted by the chase, and dwelt in rude cabins. 
A few roses and pennyroyal were found, and cresses 
grew in some of the springs. Barbels and picories were 
«cen in the streams. The only animal mentioned is a 
"tawny lion" that dwelt in the uninliabited part. The 
'distance across this desert region was eighty leagues, and 
the course of the Spaniards lay toward the North. 

The province of Cibola contained seven villages, situ- 
ated in a warm valley between high mountains ; one of 
them took the name of the province, and another, called 
jMuzaque, is said to have been the most populous. The 
houses were, ordinarily, four and five stories high, and 
some few in Muzaque were six and seven. The inhal)it- 
ants were more civilized and intelligent than any the 
Spaniards had hitherto seen. They dressed in skins and 
stuffs made of cotton. The entire .middle of the body 
was covered with a garment that resembled a napkin, 
which was embroidered with tuffs at the ends, and was 
fastened around the loins. They also manufactured a 
kind of pelisses of feathers. The women were dressed 
differently from the men. They "wore a mantle over tlie 

1 The same kind of oak is still found in California. Surgeon William 
8. King, of the United States army, writes to the Medical and Sar- 
fjlcal Reporter that in California the Indians live almost entirely, 
at certain seasons, on acorns, making from them a flour which is very 
sweet and palatable. They make this by pounding the acorns to tine 
flour, and boiliug and stirring it for several hours in hot water. This 
makes a jelly-like substance which is very good to eat, or may bp 
baked into breatl. 



l'^ 



1 68 THE CONQUEST OF 1SEW MEXICO. 

shoulder fastened around the neck and passing under' 
the right arm ; some of their garments were made of 
skins beautifully dressed. The hair was done up behind 
the ear, " in the shape of a wheel which resembles the 
handle of a cup." Maize was raised as an article of food, 
and some cotton was cultivated. The stalks of the maize 
were very short, and the ears started near the ground : 
each ear contained seven or eight hundred grains, which, 
was a matter of astonishment to the Spaniards, and was 
said to excel anything seen in the Indias. The animals 
found in the country were bears in great numbers, lions, 
wild-cats, hyenas and beavers ; there were a few tur- 
quoises, but neither gold nor silver.. The nuts of tlie 
pine tree were collected and used for food. 

The manners and customs of the people of Cibola 
differed from any ]iitherto mentioned. A man married 
only once, and if he should lose his wife he was obliged 
to live single the rest of liis days. The women were well 
treated, but two of them were not allowed to enter inta 
a place at the same time, such conduct being considered 
a sacrilege. Their government was primitive and rather 
patriarchal. They had no recognized political organiza- 
tion, neither caciques, nor a council of elders. Their 
religion was though!; to be a branch of the Aztec worship. 
They had priests v;ho were selected from among .the 
aged persons, one of whose duties was to regulate the 
manner of living. They preached every morning at sun- 
rise from the highest point in the village, the people 
sitting around on the ground and paying the most 
profound attention. They were a peaceful and laborious 
people, and were neither given to eating human flesh, 
drunkenness or theft. Vapoi'-baths were found in many 
of tlieir houses, and they understood the use of then.x-. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 169 

The cross was known among them and revered as an 
emblem of peace. They bm-ned the dead, and with 
them the instruments of their trade. There was anotlier 
province a few leagues to the West of Cibola which 
also contained seven villages, with similar manners and 
customs. These fourteen villages were said to contain 
fourteen thousand men.2 

Before the main body of the army reached Cibola, 
Coronado had succeeded in making peace with the inhab- 
itants, who manifested a friendly disposition. Wishing 

2 " After passing the desert seven towns are found, about a day's 
journey from each other; all united together are called Cibola. The 
houses, coarsely constructed, are of stones and mud. Behold the man- 
ner in which they are built ; they have one long wall, and on the two 
fronts of this wall there are chambers of twenty feet square and sepa- 
rated by partition walls, as they communicate by signs. They are 
ceiled with beams. In order to get into these houses you ascend upon 
a terrace by means of ladders which they give you in the street ; the 
houses are three or four stories high ; they say there are very few that 
are not two.' These stories are more than nine feet high, except the 
lirst which is not much more than six. Ten or twelve houses make 
use of the same ladder ; the lower stories are set apart for labor ; they 
live in the upper one. They have on the ground floor loop-holes used 
slantingly as in the fortresses of Spain. These Indians say that when 
they go to make war against those of Cibola, the latter shut themselves 
in their houses whence they defend themselves. When the latter set 
out on an expedition they carry shields and a garment of colored 
leather. They fight with arrows and little tomahawks of stone, and 
other arms of wood which they have not been able to explaii; to me. 
They are cannibals ; they reduce their prisoners to slavery. They 
have a great many hens of the country tamed, a great quantity of beans, 
maize and melons. They rear up in their houses hairy animals large 
as the dogs of Spain. They shear them^ — they make of it wigs similar 
to the one I have already sent to your lordship. They also manufac- 
ture cloaks of it. The men are small — the women are fair and have 
very graceful actions. Their dress consists of a shirt that reaches 
nearly to the feet. They divide the hair on two sides and arrange it so 
that the ears are exposed. They place in it many turquoises, also 
round the neck and waist. The men wear m.autles, and ovei- thom^ 



170 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

to obtain furtlier information of the neighboring nations, 
he dispatched runners into various parts to invite the 
people to come in, to hold a talk and trade with him. 
Tlie Indians sent word to all their neighbors and allies, 
and informed them that the Christians had arrived, who 
desired to be their friends, and wished to be advised of a 
good country where they might settle themselves. But 
few came in, and the general was not able to obtain 
much knowledge of the surrounding country. The 
people of Cibola informed him that twenty-live leagues 

« ! , 

leather similar to that worn by Cabeza cle Vaca and Dorantes, and 
which your lordship has already seen. They have a species of bon- 
nets. In the summer they wear leather shoes painted or colored, and 
in the winter high boots of the same material. 

"They cultivate the land as in New Spain — they carry upon the 
head as in Mexico. The men lay the groundwork of cloth and spin 
cotton. They use salt which they obtain from a lake two days' jour- 
ney from Cibola. These Indians accompany their dances and songs 
with Ilutcs, on which are marked the places where it is necessary to 
put the fingers. They are very fond of music — they sing in tune with 
those who play on instruments. The singers beat time as among us. 
I have seen the Indian that Estevan, the negro who had been a pri- 
soner in the country, had brought back, play on the fiute as he had 
learned it among the natives. Others sing as I have related, but they 
are not very skillful. It is said that five or six men assemble together 
to play the flute, and that these instruments are of unequal size. The 
sun is favorable for maize, beans and other grains. They are not 
acquainted with sea fish. They have no cows but they have a knowl- 
edge of them. Further on in the province of Cibola there are found a 
great many wild goats — they are the color of bright gray hair. In the 
country where I am they abound in great numbers ; I have asked the 
Indians if those of which they speak are similar, and they answered 
me that they are not. They say tiiat of the seven villages three are 
very large and four are spialler. It appears, from what I have been 
able to comprehend by their signs, each of these villages had three 
gates of square cross bows." — Extract from a letter Melchor Dias 
wrote to Mendoza, u'hic/i the latter communicated to Charles V. 
in his second letter to the Emperor. Tcrnaux CamjKins, ^js- 
pendicG, x>- 2^3. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 171 

from there was a province called Tiisayans wliieli con- 
tained seven cities like their own ; that the houses were 
several stories in height and the inhabitants very brave. 
The information he obtained was very limited, as there 
was no intercourse between the two provinces ; but it was 
sufficient to awaken his interest, and he determined to 
send an expedition thither. 

He selected for this purpose the gallant cavalier Don 
Pedro de Tobar, and placed under his orders seventeen 
horsemen and three or four foot soldiers. They were 
accompanied by a monk named Juan de Padilla, who 
had been a soldier in his youth, but now belonged to the 
Franciscans. The rumor had been spread through the 
surrounding provinces that Cibola was conquered by a 
very ferocious nation, who rode great animals and de- 
voured men ; and as these people had no knowledge of 

3 The province of Tusayan is identical with the present Moqui vil- 
lages, situated on the great tableau between the river San Juan and 
the Colorado Chiquito. The villages are seven in number, and five of 
them, in 1G92, bore the names of Aguatubi, Gualpi, Jongopavi, Mon- 
Gonavi, and Qrayvi. At the present time four of these same pueblos 
are called Moqui, Una-Vida, Cuelpe and Towas. The bute or mesa, 
upon the top of which the pueblos are built, rises up with nearly 
perpendicular sides, and around the base lay their arable -land where 
they cultivate grains, fruit and vegetables, and pasture their flocks 
and herds. The Indians attend their crops, and watch their sheep 
and goats during the day in the valley below, and when night 
approaches they retire up to their villages. They are a mild and 
peaceful race of people, and have the reputation of being strictly 
honest. They dress in cotton and other garments of their own manu- 
facture. The females are said to be good-looking, and are cleanly in 
their habits ; they are well treated by the men, and only attend to 
work within doors while the latter perform the labor in the fields. 
The women have a peculiar style of dressing the hair, and the rank 
and condition of each one may be known by the manner in which she 
wears it. The married women wear it done up in a club at the back 
of the head, while the virgins part it in the middle behind, and bring 



172 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

horses tliis news caused great astonishment and alarm,. 
For this r>eason Tobar supposed the inhabitants of Tusayan 
would be on the look out and would not allow him to 
enter their country, peaceably ; but he marched with such 
secrecy that he arrived in their province without being 
discovered, nor having seen a house or person on the 
way. They came within sight of one of the villages about 
dark, and crossing some cultivated fields approached so 
near the houses that they heard the people talking. Here 
they encamped all night undiscovered. The next morn- 
ing they were seen by the Indians, who immediately 
sounded the alarm in the village. The warriors turned 
out armed with bows and arrows, clubs and bucklers, and 
advanced in good order against them. The Spaniards 
sounded a parley, and sent their interpreter to hold a talk 
with the Indians. He was received in a friendly manner, 
but was told that the Spaniards could not enter the vil- 

it round to either side something in the form of a rosette, and nicely 
smoothed and oiled. 

Their houses are built of stone and mortar, or mud, and some of 
them are two and three stories in height. Some are large and others 
small, and the upper stories of all of them are entered from the outside 
by means of ladders. They obtain water, for their crops and other 
purposes, by digging holes in the sand in the valley ; but this supply 
often gives out in a time of great drought, and to avoid a famine they 
always keep on hand a considerable supply of provisions. Now and 
then their more warlike neighbors, the Nabajos, come sweeping down 
upon them and drive off their flocks ; when they offer but little resist- 
ance, but gathering up their movables retreat to their strongholds 
upon the mesa. Their manufactures in woollen, cotton, leather, 
basket-work and pottery exhibit considerable skill. Among the popu- 
lation there are a few Albinos with perfectly white hair and light 
eyes. The Moqui villages are situated some seventy-five miles West 
of Fort Defiance, and about the same distance North-west of Zuili ; 
and from their location there can be no doubt of their being the 
province of ancient Tusayan. There has not been a Catholic pries*;, 
settled among the Moquis since 1680. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 173 

'lage. The Indians traced a line upon the sand, which 
they forbid any of the strangers to cross ; but one of tlie 
soldiers, more bold than the rest, rode his horse over the 
line, when an Indian made at him with a club and struck 
his horse's bridle. 

The friar was impatient of delay and advised Tobar to 
attack the Indians sword in hand ; and in order to excite 
the soldiers to do so said to them : " In truth I know not 
why we have come hither." The order was then given, 
when they charged the Indians at fnll speed, who broke 
and fled toward the \'illage, but a great number were 
killed before they could reach it. The Spaniards did. not 
then attempt to enter the village in pursuit of the Indians, 
but selecting a convenient place near by pitched their 
camp. In a short time the inhabitants came out to them 
loaded with presents,- and gave their submission in the 
name of the whole province and asked for an alliance 
with them. The presents consisted of tanned-leather, 
flour, fir-nuts, maize, poultry, and some turquoises, which 
they desired the captain to accept as a mark of their good 
will. During the day a large number of Indians visited 
the camp to barter and see the strangers ; and toward 
evening the Spaniards entered the village and took pos- 
session of it. The inhabitants lived in the same manner 
as those of Cibola, and were governed by a council of 
wise-men, and had also governors and captains. Some 
■ of the chiefs informed Tobar that to the West there ran. 
a great river and by ascending it they would find a nation. 
' of very great stature. Having now fulfilled their mission 
■the Spaniards returned to Cibola and reported to the 
general the result of the expedition. 

The news of the great river induced Coronado to send 



1 74 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

a party to discover and explore it. He selected Don 
Garcia de Cardenas to command this expedition, and 
placed twelve men under him. Leaving Cibola they 
marched to the province of Tnsayan, where they obtained 
a snpply of provisions and guides for the journey. Their 
route now lay across a desert of twenty days' journey, 
which they passed in safety and arrived on the bank of 
the river. They suffered much from cold, although it 
was summer time. The country vras covered with a 
growth of low, stunted pine trees, and being open to the 
North, the wind came sweeping down from that quarter 
with piercing coldness. The banks of the river were so 
high and rugged that it was impossible to reach the 
water. From the top of the bank the stream did not 
appear more than a fathom in breath, while the Indians 
represented it as half a league Avide. Cardenas and his 
party inarched several days along the ridge of mountains 
searching for an opening by wliich they might descend to 
the stream; but there appeared one continuous barrier 
of almost perpendicular rock on either side, and far 
below they could see the river, winding its solitary 
course like a thread of silver. At one point the bank 
seemed less precipitous, and they made an attempt to 
descend. Three of the party, captain ]\Ielgosa, Juan 
Geleres, and a private soldier made the effort, and 
descended until those who stood upon the bank had lost 
sight of them. They were absent until four o'clock in 
the afternoon when they returned, not having been able 
to accomplish one-third of the distance. They reported 
the descent as very difficult and dangerous, and that the 
rocks whicli, from the top, appeared no taller than a 
man, were found to be, when they reached them, lu'gher 



THE CONQUEST CF ^'E^V MEXICO. 175 

thaw the tower of the cathedral of Seville, and that the 
5-iver appeared very large to them from the last point.4 

They followed the river bank three or fonr days 
beyond this point, when they abandoned it because of 
the entire absence of water ; being obliged to go every 
night a league or two into the interior to find it. It was 
tlie custom of the Indians, when they traveled throu-^-h 
this dry region, to take with them a number of women 
loaded with gourds filled with water, some of which tliey 
I)uried on the way until their return. This was the river 
Tizon which ]\Ielchor Dias had discovered near tlio 
mouth; and the Indians of large stature here mentioned 
are supposed to have been the same which Dias had 
seen and described. During the march tlie Spaniards 
came to a l>eantifid cascade formed by water falling over 
a rock, around which a numl)er of crystals were formed. 
Tlie Indians represented these crystals to be salt, and 
some of whicli were collected and carried to Cibola: 
but nothing is said in the original record as to ^vhat they 
really were. 

4 The great chasm here spoken of in the river Tizon was none other 
than the canon through which the Rio Colorado, sometimes called the 
Great Colorado of the "\Yest, flows. It is many miles in length, aud i» 
of such great depth, and so difficult of descent, that it is not known 
whether any person has ever been able to reach the water. The 
Indians of the western part of New Mexico speak of this canon as an 
object of amazement to Ihem, and probably they are the only persons 
who have ever reached the river-bank at this point and gazed down 
the trightful chasm. Within a few years, and since the foregoing was 
written, the Rio Colorado has been navigated by steam, and boats 
have ascended a considerable distance above its mouth. The passa^-e 
through the great canon is described as wild in the extreme, where 
the rocky banlcs rise up, in some place a thousand or fifteen hundred 
feet from the water. 



.176 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTEPt XXIII, 



ALYARADO MAECIIES TO CICUYE, AND THE AEMY GOES INT<> 
WINTER QUARTERS AT TIGUEX. 

JMeanwhile Coroiiado a,nd his army remained in good 
' quarters at Cibola. Tlie Indians from several of tlie 
neighboring provinces came in to see him, make presents, 
and form an alliance. Among others, there came a depu- 
tation from the province of Cicuj^e situated seventy 
leaguesi toward the East ; who said they had heard of 
the arrival of strangers at Cibola, and came to offer their 
services, and beg, if they should come into their country, 
to be treated as allies. They were accompanied by their 
cacique, a handsome and well-made man, whom the Spani- 
ards called Bigotes, because he wore long mustaches. 
They brought a present of tanned-skins and bucllers for 
the general ; who gave them, in return, some necklaeer= 
of beads, and bells, with which they were greatly pleased, 
as they had never before seen such things. They gave 
Coronado much information concerning the country they 
inhabited, particularly of their cows, a picture of wliich 
■ was painted upon the body of one of the Indians. They 

1 ThouglioutthQ journal of Castaneda all the distances are overesti- 
i mat€d. 



THE CONQUEST 0^ NEW MEXICO. /ITT 

V represented tliem as covered with a frizzled hair wliicli 
resembled wool.2 He was deeply interested in tlieii 
relation and resolved to send an expedition into their 
country for the purpose of exploring it. 

He gave the command of this expedition to captain 
Hernando Alvarado, who, with twenty men, was directed 
to accompany the Indians npon tlieir return, and at the 
end of eighty days to present himself in Cibola and give 
an account of what he had seen and heard. The Spani- 
ards started with the Indians immediately. In a march 
of five days they arrived at a town called Acuco,3 a very 
strong place built upon a rock, the inhabitants of which 
were great brigands and were much dreaded by all the 
province. The rock upon which the town stood was very 
high, and on three sides the ascent was perpendicular. 
The only means of reaching the top was by ascending a 
sf air-case cut in the solid rock ; the first flight of steps 
numbered two hundred which could l)e ascended without 
much difficulty, v/hen a second flight of one hundred more 

2 The animal here referred to was the buffalo. 

3 The village called Acuco, by Castaneda, is the pueblo of Acoma of 
the present day ■ and the situation of the two places agrees so well that 
I do not think the location I have given Acuco can be called in question. 
Acoma is situated some fifty mileS' from Zufii, nearly East, and fifteen 
miles South-west of the pueblo of Xaguna. It is built on the top of a 
small rocky meca, about ten acres in extent and two hundred feet high , 
rising up in the plain with nearly perpendicular sides ; it is detached 
from the surrounding mesas, and is ascended by means of a road cut 
in the rock and earth. It is a place of great strength, and the mesa 
can only be ascended up the artificial road. The houses are clustered 
together on the top without regularity, of one and two stories in height, 
and some have portals, or porches, on the second story. They are 
built of adobes. The present population is not more than three hun- 
dred and fifty or four hundred souls. Water is obtained from the plain 
or valley below and is carried up to the pueblo by the women in jars 
.of earthenware. The inhabitants cultivate some of the land. that lief 



178 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXIC-D. 

comiiiciicecl. These ^?e^e narrower and more difRenIt of 
ascent tlian the first ; and when surmounted there re- 
mained about twelve feet more to the top, which could 
only be ascended by putting the hands and feet in holes 
cut in the rock. On the top was a large pile of stones 
tor the purpose of hurling down upon an enemy wlw 
should attempt to ascend. There was space enough on 
this summit to store a great quantity of provisions, and 
to build cisterns to hold water. Tlic Indians came down 
in a warlike attitude into the plain to meet the Spaniards, 
and refused to receive any proposition from them. They 
drew a mark in the sand, as the Indians had done a^t 
Tusayan, and forbade them to cross it. Alvarado, de- 
spairing of bringing them to terms in any peaceable 
manner, resolved to attack them. He made his disposition 
to that effect innnediately, when, seeing he was about to 
advance, they begged for quarter. Castaneda relates tliat 
tlieir manner of making peace was "to approach the 
horses, to take their perspiration and rub their whole body 
with it, and tlien to make a cross with the fingers." They 

around the mesa, but their principal fields are in the valley of the 
Gallo, a few miles above Laguna. Acoma is in the direction the 
Spaniards took from Zuiii on their way to Cicuyo ; and at their rate of 
marching it would have taken them about five days to make the dis- 
tance. There is no other pueblo, or the ruiuB of one, in all that section 
of the country whose location answers so well to the situation of Acuc-o 
as Acoma. Castaneda mentions that at Acuco was found a cross near 
a fountain two palms high and a finger in thickness. The wood was 
squared, and around it were many dried flowers and little staves orna- 
mented with feathers. In my location of Acuco as identical with 
Acoma of the present day I am sustained by lieutenant-colonel Eaton, 
late of the United States Army, who says upon this subject: "In a 
conversation with a very intelligent Zuni Indian I learned that the 
pueblo of Acoma is called in the Zuni tongue Hah-koc-kce-ah (Acuco) ; 
and this name was given to me without any previous question whicb 
eould serve to give him an idea of this old Spanish name." 



tTHE CONQUJEST OF NEW MEXICO* 179 

also crossed tlieir hands which act they held iliviohiblc. 
..\ccording to custom they made the Spaniards presents 
of fowls, bread, dressed deer-skins, grains of the iir-cone, 
flour and maize. 

vUvarado continued on and in three days he arrived at 
a province called Tiguex.-t Here the inhabitants received 
him with pacific demonstrations on account of Bigotes 
being along, who was a powerful chief and much feared 
in all that country. He was so mncli pleased with the 
appearance of this province tliat he dispatched q, messenger 
back to Coronado witli a recommendation that he should 
come there to spend tlie winter. Thence the Spaniards 
continued their march and in five days arrived at Cicuye, 
a large and strongly fortified village. Here, also, they 
were received in the most friendly manner. When the 
inhabitants saw them approach they marched out to 
receive them, and escorted them into the town to the 
music of their drums and flutes. The Indians made 
Alvarado presents of stufts and turquoises, the latter 
abounding in the province. The Spaniards remained 
hev'e some days to recover from the fatigues of the march. 
At this village they met an Indian from a distant province 
toward the East, whom they named the " Turk," because 
of his resemblance of the people of that nation. He gave 
a most glowing account of the famous cities to be found 
in the country whence he came, and of the abundance of 
gold and silver to be found there. Alvarado became so 
much interested in his narrative that he felt but little 
interest in completing his expedition into the country 
where the bufitilo abounded ; therefore taking this Indian 
for a guide he continued his march until he obtained a 

i In the jourual of Jaramillo, a captain in the expedition, this word 
is written Tihuex, but I prefer to follow the spelling of Caslaueda, 



ISO THE CONQUEST OF KE"\V MEXICO. 

siglit of buffaloes, when he hastened back to report tc 
Coronndo the result of his explorations. 

The messenger that Alvarado dispatched from Tiguex 
reached Coronado in safety, and he was so much pleased 
with the account he gave of that place that he determined 
to winter the army there. He immediately sent Garcia 
Lopez de Cardenas thither to prepare quarters for the 
troops. Vv"hen he arrived he turned all the inhabitants 
of the village out of their hotses to make room for the 
soldiers. They were not allowed to carry anything away 
with them but their clothing, and they were obliged to 
seek shelter in the neighboring provinces. At this cruel 
treatment the Indians were much incensed, and they 
turned from their homes filled with hostility toward tlic 
strangers. Coronado having heard of the existence of 
another province with eight villages determined to visit 
it on his M'ay to Tiguex. For this purpose he set out in 
advance witii thirty of the most hardy men, leaving 
instructions for the army to follow in twenty days* In a 
march of eight days he arrived at a town called Tutahaco,r. 

5 Tutabaco, aud the other seven villages here referred to, must liave 
been situated npon the Gallo, and in a direction North-east from Cibola. 
In marching from the latter province, in a general North-east course, 
which the Spaniards were then pursuing, the first stream they would 
approach was what is now called the river Gailo. The only pueblo 
on it, at the present day, is that of Laguna, and the ruins of the others, 
if situated upon its banks, have disappeared, at least I have never 
heard of any being in existence. It is now a small stream ; but there 
is evidence of many of the streams having jjartially dried up, and at 
that day this, probably, contained a much larger body of water. The 
time the Spaniards were occupied in marching from Cibola to Tuta- 
baco would seem to argue against my location of the villages of this 
province, as the Gallo should have been reached in half that time from 
the former place ; but as the country to be traversed is mountainous, 
the march may have been prolonged on this account. I am not able 
to give these pueblos any other location consistent with the well-known 
aud determined points upon the route of Coronado. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 181 

where the inhabitants gave him a friendly welcome. He 
found the houses built in the same manner, and the 
people wearing the same style of clothing, as in Cibola. 
Thence he ascended the river and visited all the other 
villages of the province,c when he resumed the march for 
Tigiiex. He reached that place without accident, where 
he met Alvarado, who had stopped there on his return 
from the buffalo country to await his arrival. Coronado 
found but little water on his march and was much impeded 
by the want of it. At one stretch of two and a half days 
there was none to be had for man or beast, which caused, 
great suffering among the horses and Indians of burden. 
Here Coronado met the Turk, who had returned with 

B The only village extant of those in the province of Tutahaco, men- 
tioned by Castaneda, is that of Laguna, if I am correct in fixing their 
location on the river Gallo. I visited it some years ago on my way to 
Fort Defiance. It is situated upon a rocky knoll on the west bank of 
the Gallo, and has a population of nearly a thousand souls. The 
houses are of mud and stones, generally small and badly ventilated, 
and built without order. The people enter them by means of outside 
ladders and pull the ladders up after them on to the terrace above. 
The rows of houses are separated by narrow lanes, and in the centre of 
the village is a small plaza or square. At this village is kept what the 
Indians are pleased to call their God Montezuma, which I was per- 
mitted to see, as I was not a Mexican. An old woman brought 
something into the room wrapped up in a dirty cloth, which was set 
on the floor before me and uncovered. It v»^as not in the image of 
anything upon the earth, in the heavens above or in the waters under- 
neath. The famous God was made of tanned skin, stretched on a 
circular frame about nine inches high and the same in diameter. One- 
half was painted red and the other green, and the top was covered 
over. On the green side were cut apertures to represent eyes ; it was 
v/ithout a nose, while circular pieces of leather represented the mouth 
and ears. There was a small tuft of leather dressed with feathers on 
the top. The Indians present looked on it with the greatest venera- 
tion and knelt around it. They went through a form of prayer, and 
sprinkled a white powder upon it. One of them told me this -seuseless- 
thing v.'as God, and the brother of God. 



182 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Alvarado. The general was deeply interested in tiie 
account lie gave of liis native province, of wliicli he spoke 
in the most exaggerated terms. He said there was a 
great river which ran through it, two leagues Avide, in 
which were fish as large as a horse;? that the canoes were 
capable of carrying twenty rowers on a side, and were 
also propelled by sails ; they were fitted up with great 
magnificence ; a large golden eagle was fixed in the prow, 
and the master rechned in the stern under a beautiful 
canopy. He represented the sovereign as great and pow- 
erful, who took his siestas under the spreading branches 
of a great tree, and was charmed to sleep by the music of 
little golden bells suspended therefrom, which sounded 
when the wind blew. He said gold and silver abounded 
in the country and were used for all purposes ; that the 
most common vases were made of massive wrought silver, 
and the plates and porringers of gold. This marvellous 
story was readily believed by the too credulous Spaniards, 
and Coronado determined to make an expedition in search 
of the untold wealth said to exist there. Among other 
things, the Twrk said he had brought several golden 
bracelets with him as evidence of the wealth of the coun- 
try, which he left at Cicuye ; and as he was anxious to 
r'eclaim them the general sent Alvarado back with him 
to that village to assist in their recovery. Wlien they 
arrived there tlie inhal)itants denied all knowledge of 
them, and said that the Turk was such a liar he could not 
be believed. Tlie captain made prisoners of the chief, 
Bigotes, and the cacique, whom he chained in his tent in 
order to make them tell where the bracelets had been 

7 The river referred to was probably the Rio del Norte, and flsli ot 
ail enormous size are still caught iu it. 
s Mid-day nap. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 183 

concealed ; but they persisted in denying all knowledge 
of them, and reproached the Spaniards as men who were 

, void of faith and friendship. They were carried captive 
to Tignex, where the general kept them confined for 
several months, but without being able to extort anv 
knowledge of the golden bracelets. 

Twenty days after the departure of Coronado from 
Cibola the army commenced the march from that place 
for Tiguex, under the command of Don Tristan de Arelr- 
lano, who had lately arrived from Sonora. The first 
night it quartered at a village, the largest and handsomest 
that had been seen in the province. The houses were 
seven stories high, built in the form of terraces with bal- 
conies supported by wooden pillars, and the walls were 
pierced with loop-holes for the purpose of defence. The 
i'oofs were on a level and common to all the inhabitants 
of the village ; and they were entered by an exterior 
stair-case,9 there being no doors on the outside. There 
were no streets to this village. While here a violent 

. snow storm came on, and the soldiers took shelter under 
the projecting balconies of the houses. 

The next morning the march was resumed. The season 
M'as the beginning of Decendjer ; the cold was quite severe, 
and the snow, which fell almost every day and night, 
covered the ground to the depth of three feet. The 
country abounded in forests of fir and pine trees, and at 
night the soldiers built large fires to melt the snow and 
keep themselves warm. Some nights there was such a 
heavy fall of snow that the camp would be buried up 
before morning. The troops suffered from cold and 
fatigue. They passed the village of Acuco, before men- 

9 The word "stair-case," no doubt, means ladder, the present methop!. 
of eutering the dwellings of the Pueblo Indians of ISTew Mexico. 



1S4 THE' CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

tioned, where the inhabitants gave them a friendlj 
reception and furnished them provisions. The Spaniards 
looked at the rock, with the village perched upon its top, 
with great interest. The ascent was inaccessible to them 
without assisting each other, while the Indians, who were 
accustomed to it, would go up and down ynth. great 
facility, the women carrying burdens and scarcely using 
their hands. Thence they marched to Tiguex, where 
they* arrived without accident and went into the comfort- 
able quarters abeady provided for them. They found 
the province in a state of revolt, with active hostilities 
going on between, the Indians and Spaniards^ 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 185 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



33ESCRIPTION OF TIGUEX ; THE INDIANS KEYOLT AGAINST 
THE SPANIARDS, BUT ARE CONQUERED. 

The account whicli Castaiieda gives of the province of 
Tigi\ex is so complete and ■ interesting that I copy it en- 
tire from his joiu'nal. He says : " The province of Tiguexi 

1 The villages of the province of Tiguex must have been upon the 
banks of the Rio Puerco, and at this day the ruins of several are found 
upon this stream. After crossing the Gallo, this is the next river ap- 
proached traveling toward the North-east, and is the largest until you 
arrive at the Del Norte. A chain of high mountains bounds it on the 
West, and according to the wording of the original text the pueblo of 
Jemes was about seven leagues to the North-east. The locality of the 
latter village is perfectly well known, and the Puerco is the only stream 
within seven leagues ot it to the South-west ; and it is impossible to 
locate Tiguex in any other part of the country, and at the same time 
do justice to the march of the Spaniards. Castaiieda describes the 
river as large, which may have been the case with the Puerco at that 
time, but at the present day it is an inconsiderable stream, and at some 
seasons of the year is quite dry. During the rainy season its banks 
are filled with water, and like all mountain streams has a rapid cur- 
rent. The valley of the Puerco contains some good farming land 
and varies in width. It empties into the Eio del Norte'. There is 
some evidence that Tiguex, I mean the village of that name, was 
situated upon the Jemes river. After the army had returned from the 
plains to Tiguex, an officer ascended the river the latter village was 
situated upon, some distance, and visited the two provinces of Jemes 
and Ynqueyunque. Now, Jemes is upon the river of the same name ; 
and if the river was ascended to this village, the evidence that Tiguex 
was situated upon the same stream, would appear quite conclusive,. 



IS6 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

contains twelve villages situated upon the bank of a great 
river ; it is a valley about two leagues broad, and bounded 
on the West by very high mountains covered with snow. 
Four villages are built at the foot of these mountains, 
and three others on the heights. 

" They are governed by a council of old men. The 
houses are built in common ; the women temper the 
mortar and raise the walls ; the men bring timber and 
construct the frames. They have no lime but they make 
a mixture of ashes, earth and charcoal, which answers 
\evy well for a substitute ; for although they raise their 
houses four stories high, the walls are not more than 
three feet thick. They make great heaps of thyme,and 
rushes vrhich they set on fire ; when tliis mass is reduced 
to coal and ashes they throw upon it a great deal of earth 
and water and mix all together. They then knead it in 
round masses which are dried and which they employ as 
stones ; the whole is tlicn coated with tlie same mixture. 
This work tluis resembles somewhat a piece of masonry. 

" The young unmarried people serve the public in 
general. They seek firewood and collect in the courts, 
M'hence the women take it for use in the houses. They 
occupy the vapor-baths which are under ground in the 
courts of the village. There are square and also round 
ones. The roof is sustained by pillars made of trunks of 
the pine. I have seen them which had twelve pillars, 
each one twelve feet round ; but usually they have only 
four pillars. They are paved witli large polished stones 
like the baths of Europe. In the centre is a lighted fur- 
nace on which a handful of thyme is occasionally thrown, 
and which suffices to keep up the heat, so that one is 
there as in a bath ; the roof is on a level with the 
ground. There are some as large as a tennis court. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 187 

*' Wlien a young man marries it is by the order of the 
old men who govern. He nmst spin and weave a mantle ; 
they then bring tlie young girl to him, he covers her 
shoulders with it, and she becomes his wife. 

" The houses belong to the women and the vapor-baths 
to the men. The women are forbiddeii to enter or sleep 
in them, except to carry food to their husbands or sons. 
The men spin and weave ; the women take care of the 
children and cook provisions. The soil is so fertile that 
it does not need to be worked when they sow ; the snow 
falls and covers the seed, and the maize springs under- 
neath. The harvest of one year answers for seven. 
There is found in the country a quantity of cranes, ducks, 
crows and partridges, which live on the houses. When 
they begin to sow the fields are still covered with maize 
wliich they had not been able to gather. 

" In this province were a great number of the hens of 
the country and gallos de 'papada^ (double-chinned cocks) ; 
they might be kept sixty days without being plucked or 
dressed, and without giving out a bad smell.s So it was 
with human corpses, particularly in winter. Tlieir villages 
are very neat. The houses are very well distributed and 
very neat. One room is designed for the kitchen, and 
another to grind the grain ; this last is apart and contains 
a furnace and three stones ilnade fast in masonry. These 
women sit down before the stones ; the first crushes the 
grain, the second brays- it^ and the third reduces it entirely 
to powder. Before entering they take off their shoes, tie 
their hair, cover their heads and sliake their clothes. 

2 New Mexico is. noted for the dryness of its atmosphere. Dew and 
moisture are almost unknown, and neither animal nor vegetable matter 
decay. Dead bodies give out no unpleasant smell, for the ordinary 
process of decomposition does not take place, but they dry up instead. 



188 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

While they are at work a man seated at the door plan's 
on the bagpipe, so that they work, keeping time ; they 
sing in three voices. They make a great deal of flour at 
once ; to make bread they mix it with warm water, and 
make a dough which resembles the cakes called ouhlis. 
They collect a great quantity of herbs, and when they are 
quite dry they use them all the year in cooking their 
food. No other fruits than pine nuts are seen in the 
country. 

" They have preachers ; the crime against nature is 
not known among them ; they are not cruel, do not make 
human sacrifices and are not anthropophagi. When we 
entered Tiguex it was forty days since Francisco Hernando 
had been lulled by the inhabitants ; he was nevertheless 
found among the dead without any other injury than the 
wound of which he died. He was white as snow and had 
no unpleasant smell. 

" I have learned something of their manners from one 
of our Indians who had been a prisoner among them. 
Having asked him why the young girls went wholly 
naked, notwithstanding the great cold, he told me they 
were not allowed to cover themselves until they were 
married. The men wear a sort of shirt of dressed leather 
and a pelisse over it. In all this province was found 
pottery glazed, ' and vases of really curious form and 
workmanship." 

Tiguex was surrounded by other populous provinces. 
Hemes,3 with seven villages, was seven leagues to the 

3 The pueblo o£ Hemes or Jemez can be located with the same cer- 
tainty as Cibola and Acuco, and forms a third well defined point in the 
march of the Spaniards. It is situated on a small river of the same 
name West of the Del Norte, and about fifty miles West of Santa Fe', 
and at the foot of a chain of high mountains. The population is but 



THE COXQUEST CE KEAV 5IEXIC0. 188 

North-east, and a little more Northwardly was that of 
Qairix with the same number of villages. Those of Tu- 
tahueoi and Aclia were the first four, and the latter forty 
leagues distant ; the former to the South which contained 
eight villages, and the latter to the North-east. In all 
the provinces the people had the same manners and 
•customs, with the exception of some local peculiarities. 

It has been already stated that at the time the army 
arrived in Tiguex, the Indians were in a hostile state and 
open warfare existed between them and the Spaniards. 
'J'he ill-will of the natives was aroused by the bad treatment 
Bigotes and the cacique of Cicuye had received, and sub- 
sequent acts incensed them still more. The sokhers were 
in o-reat w-ant of clothing, and Coronado made a demand 
upon the Indians for the necessary supply. He required 
of them three hundred pieces of stutis immediately, but 
they asked for tim.e to talk the matter over in council as 

a tew hundred, and the style of building with 'the form of government, 
and the manners and customs of the people, is almost identical with 
the other pueblos yet remaining in the country. In the valley of the 
little river, upon which this village is built, are found, at this time, nu- 
merous ruins probably the remains of the other pueblos of which the 
province consisted when Coronado marched through the country. The 
houses are built upon two or three principal streets parallel with each 
other, and some of them are two stories high with the upper story reced- 
ing from the lower so as to leave space for a sort of uncovered balcony. 
Around the village are a fev/ acres covered with apricot and peach 
trees. The houses are entered from the ground by means of ladders, y. 
The river here is some fifty feet broad with a rapid current, and flows 
to the Southward. Some distance Nortli-west of Jeraez, in the valley 
of the river Chaco, are extensive ruins of large buildings formerly con- 
structed of stone, and w^hich exhibit a style of architecture superior to 
any others found in the country. They are probably the remains of 
some of the populous provinces which Ca&taneda mentions, but were 
not visited. ' ~^ 

1 Probably Tutahaco is the pueblo referred to, the uamo being aiis- 
■Dpelled, 



190 TKE C01\^QUEST OP KEW MEXICO. 

Was tlieil' custom, in order to distribute the amount to be 
furiiished among tlie different villages. He consented to 
this, and runuei's were dispatched to the twelve villages 
situated upon both banks of the i-iver, but before the 
people could assemble and make their arrangements, he 
ordered them to furnish the quantity demanded. Soldiers 
were sent around to collect the stuff of the Indians, Avho 
were obliged to take the clothes off their back to make 
up the required amount. If these Christian collectors 
were displeased with what was given them, and met a 
person with better garments on, they obliged him to 
change without any regard to his rank or condition. 
Tliis bad conduct created a deadly hostility on the part 
of the Indians, but they had other cause of grievance of 
still greater weight. 

An officer rode to a village about a league distant from 
the one where he v;as quartered, when, giving his horse 
in charge of an Indian, he entered his house and attempted 
to violate his wife. When the Spaniard had ridden 
away and. the Indian re-entered his house, the wife told 
him of the outrage that bad been committed upon her. 
The injured husljand and the chiefs of the village imme- 
diately waited upon the general to complain of the bad 
conduct of the officer and to demand redress. This 
Coronado promised to grant. He caused the whole army 
to be paraded, and directed the husband to point out the 
guilty party in order that he might be punished, but lie 
was not able to recognize him. The Indian then said he 
could recognize the horse, when the general ordered all 
the horses brought out that he might select the one ]-idden 
by the officer. He pointed out the animal he had held, 
1)ut as the owner was not recognized, he denied the accu- 
sation, and here the matter ended. The Indians returned 



THE CO^^QUEST CF N'EW MEXICO. 191 

to their village witli their grievance unredressed and 
greatly dissatisfied. 

That night the Indians held a grave eonncil in the 
estufa, when, after a discnssion of their many wrongs^ 
they resolved to make war npon the strangers, and, if 
possible, to drive them from the province. The next 
morning they appeared in arms and commenced hostilities. 
They first attacked some of the Indian allies wlio were 
ont of camp, killed one man and captured some of tiic 
animals. One of the fugitives brought information of tlie 
attacli to the general, who sent out a party in pursuit. 
They recovered some of the horses, but a large number 
were lost, together with seven mules that belonged to 
Coronado. The next day an officer with a party of men 
was sent to a neighboring village for the purpose of talk- 
ing with the inhabitants and endeavoring to make peace 
with them ; but they saluted them with words of scorn 
and' derision, and refused to hold any intercourse with 
them. The Indians were strongly barricaded and opened 
a fire of arrows which killed several horses. Upon the 
general being informed of the issue of this mission, ho 
sent Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, with a considerable 
force, to besiege one of the villages and bring the inhabi- 
tants to terms. He marched against the village where 
the officer had oflered the insult to the woman, and made 
the attack before his approach was known. The Span- 
iards rushed to the assault and gained the house-topa 
without losing a man, although several were wounded by 
arrows discharged from the loop-holes of the houses. 
Here Cardenas maintained himself fighting for two davs 
and one night, the inhabitants meanwhile keeping ud a 
brisk fire upon his men with arrows, which the Spaniards 
returned with cross-bow and arquebus. "While they held 



192 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

the roofs, some Indian alKes, protected bj the h.crsemen, 
dug passages under ground Icadmg into the houses. 
Tliese were filled with some inflammable substance and 
set on fire, which smoked the Indians out and compelled 
them to sue for quarter. Thej now made signs of Ji 
desire to come to terms. They were answered by Pablo 
Lopez Melyosa and Diego Lopez, of the council of Seville, 
];)y crossing their hands in token of peace, wlien the 
Indians threw down their arms and surrendered. The 
prisoners were conducted to the tent of Cardenas. As he 
did not know that they had given themselves up, he 
ordered immediate preparations made to burn them alive 
both as a warning to their neighbors, and in obedience 
to his orders that none should be spared. He supposed 
tliey had come to ask for their lives, which he could not 
grant under his instructions. Those who knew they had 
surrendered themselves prisoners of M-ar said nothing, but 
allowed the preparations for tlieir execution to proceed. 
But the poor Indians were not disposed to be massacred 
without resistance. When tliey sav/ that the Spaniards 
intended to violate their faith and put them to death, they 
l)egan to prepare for resistance. There were nearly one 
hundred Indians in the tent. They immediately seized 
pieces of wood and everything else they could lay their 
hands on that would assist tliem to defend themselves. 
The soldiers nov/ ruslied upon them sword in hand, killing- 
some and driving others outside the tent where the horse- 
men charged them and cat them down without mercy. 
I^ut few escaped. Tliese concealed themselves in the 
village unti^ night when they fled to other parts of tlie 
country^ 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 193 



CHAPTER XXV, 



SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF TIGUEX ; CORONADO MARCHES TO 

CICUYE. 

About the time the village mentioned at the close of 
the last chapter was taken, it commenced to snow and 
continued for two months. It fell in such quantities that 
it was impossible to undertake any new enterjDrise, and 
the army remained in camp and quarters. The Spaniards 
were now anxions to make peace with the Indians, and, 
as soon as the state of the weather would permit, mes- 
sengers were sent into different parts of the province tr> 
invite them to come in and have a talk. This they 
refused to do, saying they could not trust people who 
paid no regard to treaties and violated their word to those 
who had surrendered themselves. About this time Car- 
denas returned from the village' he had lately captured t< > 
Tiguex, to have a talk with an influential Indian called 
■ Juan Aleman from his resemblance to a Spaniard of that 
nam.e in Mexico. The Indians being suspicious of the 
object of his coming were found on their guard. Car- 
denas approached the village and proposed terms of peace, 
• but they refused to negotiate unless he would dismount 
; and remove his . horsemen. This being done Juan Ale- 
13 



104 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICe>. 

mail ami the cacique came out to confer witli liiin, ImiJ 
before they would proceed to business they demanded 
rtiat he shoukl Liy aside his arms, as they were unarmed. 
Cardenas consented to this, notwithstanding his compan 
ions endeavored to persuade him to the contrary, and not 
to trust himself in the hands of the enemy without the 
means of defending himself. 

The parties approached each other to treat. AMien 
they met, .Vleman, as if for the purpose of embracing him, 
l)y way of salutation, took Cardenas in his ai"ms ; where 
he held him last Avhile two of his companions struck him 
several blows on the head with their tomahawks, which 
they had concealed under their garments, and felled him 
senseless to the ground. The soldiers, perceiving the 
treachery of the Indians, rushed to the rescue of tlieir 
captain, whom they succeeded in extricating from his 
danger ; but the enemy opened upon them a severe tire 
of arrows, which wounded several of the men, and obliged 
them to retreat. Cardenas was only stunned and in a 
short time he was able to mount again. The Indians 
retired into the village. 

The Spaniards now proceeded to another village about 
a league and a half distant, where they found a large 
number of Indians assembled. They were no more 
friendly disposed than those of Tiguex, and received tli^m 
Avith a shower of arrows and shouts of derision. Seeing 
they were hostile Cardeiuis made no cti'ort to hold a parley 
with them, but returned to Tiguex, before which lie had 
left a portion of his men. The inhabitants again saHied 
out in great numbers and made every demonstration to 
attack him. lie feigned a retreat and began to retire : 
whereupon they pursued him into the plain, where he 
turned upon them with his horsemen and killed several 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 195 

of their bravest Nvarriors. They were put to llight ami 
sought refuge upon the heights avouiul tlio viUage. 

In the nieautinic Coronado, with the main bodv of the 
army, was lying in camp in the valley recruiting his 
forces. After the last combat before Tiguex Cai'denas 
I'eturned to head-quarters and reported to the general the 
result of his scout. The latter resolved to lay siege to 
this village and intlict proper punishment upon the 
inhabitants for their treachery and hostility, and lie made 
immediate preparations to open the campaign. lie caused 
a number of scaling-ladders to be made to enable them 
to climb the walls, and perfected other necessary arrange- 
ments for such an undertaking. The army now marched 
for Tiguex, before wliich it arrived in good order, and 
comnjenced the assault of the town M'ithout delay. The 
Indians had watched the approach of the Spaniards from 
the house tops and hills, and were prepared to give them 
a warm reception. As they attempted to scjde the walls 
they discharged upon them a shower of arrows, and rolled 
do^\•n from the tops of the houses great stones wliicli 
unhorsed many of the assailants. ]\Iore than twenty were 
pierced with arrows, several of v>hom died. Tlie attat-k 
lasted some time, when the Spaniards were repulsed and 
withdrew. 

Coronado, satisfied the village could not be taken by 
assault, changed his plan of operations, and set down 
before it to besiege it. Such was the strength of the 
place, and the great bravery with whicli the inhabitants 
defended it, that fifty days Avere occupied in its rednction. 
Among other things he cut off the water which supplied 
the village, which caused great suffering among the gar- 
rison. To remedy this the inhabitants sunk a deep well, 
which fell in while diggino- and buried thirtv men und(n- 



•196 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO* 

the eai'tli. The village was assaulted many times during 
the siege, and more than two hundred of the enemy 
were killed before they obtained possession of it. The 
Spaniards likewise lost several men, killed, among whom 
was Francisco de Pobares, who fell in a desperate assault. 
The Indians took prisoner Francisco de Obando, whom 
they carried into the village and put to death. He was 
a distinguished man, and his death was a great loss to the 
army. 

In the coiu'se of the siege the Indians sounded a parley 
and asked a cessation of hostilities for one day, in order 
to send away the v/omen and children, which was granted 
them. The Spaniards seized this opportunity to propose 
terras of peace, which the enemy declined on the ground 
that as they did not keep their word they were not to be 
trusted. About one hundred women and children left the 
-s'illage, the others preferring to remain and share the 
fate of their fathers, husbands and brothers. When the 
children were let down from the walls to be sent away 
Cardenas, like a gallant knight, advanced and received 
them in his arms, and delivered them over to their friends. 
While thus engaged he put down his helmet, which he 
forgot to replace, and remained standing near the walls. 
He was observed by an Indian, who made a "sign to him 
to put on his helmet again and go away or he would fire 
upon him. But as he did not move the warrior bent his 
bow and discharged an arrow, which passed between his 
horse's legs without doing any injury. He threatened to 
aim another with more accuracy if he did not immediately 
leave the place. This was sufiicient warning to Cardenas, 
who replaced his helmet and rejoined his horsemen. 
Wlien he had reached a place of safety the Indians uttered 
■loud shouts and discharged a shower of arroAvs, whicli of 



THE GOXQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 197 

r 

eourse fell harmless to tlie ground. The assault was now 
rehnquished for the day, as Coronado was of opinion that 
the besieged would consent to make -peace ; but as they 
refused to listen to all terms proposed to them hostilities 
were resumed the next morning. 

The siege continued fifteen days after this period, 
when the inhabitants abandoned the village in the night 
to retire to some other part of the country. They 
succeeded in leaving the place unperceived, but were 
discovered by a sentinel as they were passing the camp of 
Don Rodrigo Maldonado ; when an alarm was immedi- 
ately sounded. The Indians, aware that their retreat 
was known, made an attack upon the Spaniards, and 
succeeded in killing one soldier and a horse and wounded 
several other soldiers ; but they were put to rout with 
great slaughter. A large number were killed upon the 
spot, while the survivors were driven into the river v/liere 
most of them were drowned or perislied from the cold. 
A few succeeded in swimming the stream and getting 
upon the opposite bank, but they were so much chilled 
by the water that they fell exhausted upon the ground 
unable to proceed. The soldiers crossed the river and 
captured the benumbed fugitives, whom they reduced to 
slavery. Of the whole number who abandoned Tiguex 
but few escaped ; those who sm'vived the combat being 
mostly drowned in the river or captured upon the opposite 
side. Thus the siege terminated and the village fell into 
the hands of the Spaniards ; although a few Indians 
retired into the outskirts, where they held out for "several 
days. While Coronado with the main body of the army 
was engaged in the siege of Tiguex, a party of men, under 
Pon Diego de Quevara and Don Juan de Saldibar, was 
sent to capture a neighboring village. Here the Indians 



198 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

also attempted to escape by niglit, but tliey were discovered 
by the Spaniards who laid in ambush, who sallied out and 
attacked them. A great number were killed aud the rest 
put to flight. The village was given up to pillage, and 
about one hundred women and children were made pris- 
oners. These operations were brought to a close at the 
end of the year 1541. 

Although Tiguex and the neighboring villages had 
fallen into the hands of Coronado, it could hardly be said 
that the province was subdued. The inhabitants had all 
left their homes and no persuasion could induce them to 
return while the Spaniards remained. They were over- 
powered but not conquered. Having nothing more to 
accomplish in Tiguex the general determined to continue 
his march as soon as the weather would permit the troops 
to move. lie was so much pleased with the account the 
Turk gave of Quivira, and of the great riches said to 
abound there, that he came to the determination to march 
thither and explore it. For this purpose he left Tiguex 
in advance of the army, with a small escort, and went to 
Cicuye to await its arrival. The inhabitants received 
imn in a friendly manner, and were greatly rejoiced 
because he brought their cacique witli him and restored 
him to liberty. 

The village of Cicuyei was situated upon the top of a 
great rock, in a narrow valley, amoug mountains covered 

1 The situation of Cicuye cannot be fixed witti certainty, but there is 
great probability that it stood upon the bank of the Jemez, or Guada- 
lupe, river, probably the latter, and not far from where that stream 
empties into the Del Norte. When the Spaniards came to the latter 
river they named it the river of Cicuye, because it flowed near that 
village ; which confirms me in the opinion that it was situated some- 
wlicre in the valley of the Guadalupe, and but a few miles from its 
mouth. The province contained several villages, and I believe that 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 199 

^.vitii pines. A small stream flowed tliroiigli the valley, 
which abounded in trout and otters, and bears and hawks 
were also found in great numbers. The houses were 
built around a great square in the centre, underneath 
Avhich were vapor-baths ; they were all Ijuilt with terraces, 
-and of the same height, four or five stories, and on the 
roofs the inhabitants eould pass around the whole village 
without being interrupted by a single street. To the first 
•two stories there was a corridor in the form of a balcony, 
which also made the circuit of the village, under w-hicli 
the people sat and sheltered themselves. The houses 
had no doors below, but they were entered by means of 
movable ladders, by which the inhabitants ascended to 
the balconies. On the upper stories the doors opened 
out upon the balconies, which fronted both toward the 
•country and the public square. Those which faced 

the two which now bear the names of Santa Ana, and Silla, or Cia, 
were of ^he number. The Spaniards called one of them Silos, which 
subsequent explorers may have changed into Silla. It is possible that 
Cdcuye stood upon the banks of the Del Norte, and there is some evi- 
dence to justify this conclusion. When the army returned from the 
plains it struck the river Cicuyc (Del Norte) about thirty leagues South 
of the point where it crossexl that stream in marching to the plains ; 
thence it ascended the river until the village of Cicuye' was reached. 
This evidence appears pretty conclusive that the pueblo of Cicuye was 
situated upon the river of the same name, otherwise the Del Norte. 
This hypothesis, however, is hardly reconcilable with the original text 
that a small stream flowed by Cicuye'. Castafieda states that the village 
of Cicuye was situated upon the top of a great rock, in a narrow valley 
surrounded by mountains, and that a small stream flowed by it. This 
location agrees pretty well with the situation of Cia or Silla as found 
by Vargas when he visited it ia 1G92. He then described it as situated 
•upon the mesa of Cerro Colorado, and it could only be reached by 
ascending the slope of the mesa by a steep and stony road. A small 
river ran near it. The village had been destroyed a few years before 
by Cruzate, and a new one was afterward built at the foot of the mesa, 
r,'here it-remauis to this day. 



200 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

inward to the coiu't were higher than the outer ones./ 
which made the place stronger in time of war. The 
village could muster about live hundred warriors, who 
were feared by all their neighbors ; they boasted that 
they had vanquished all who dared attack them, and had 
never been subdued. It was supplied with water from a 
spring at a little distance. These people were of the 
same race as those encountei-ed before, and had similar 
manners and customs. Before marriage the females went 
entirely naked, of which it was said they had no cause to 
be ashamed, as they were born so. 

In this province there were several villages. The first 
was Ximera, between Cicuye and the province of Quirix ; 
and near by was a large one in ruins, being abandoned 
except by a few people who lived in one quarter. It had 
the appearance of having been destroyed by violent means. 
The Spaniards called it Silos, because they found a quan- 
tity of corn-pits (silos) near it. Beyond this there was 
another large village entirely in ruins and without inhab- 
itants. In the court yard they found a number of stone 
balls, which appeared to have been thrown by a machine, 
and were supposed to have been used to batter down the 
place. They were the size of a large cannon ball. The 
inhabitants of the provmce told the Spaniards that four 
or five years before they w^ere invaded by a numerous 
and powerful nation called Teyas, who destroyed their 
villages. Tliey were represented as having machines for 
besieging. They were so named because they were a 
valliant people, and were supposed to have come from 
the North, though it was not known. The Teyans after- 
ward made an alhance with the Cicuyans and sometimes- 
came to winter under the walls of their villages ; but they 
were never allowed to j)^ss the night inside, because of 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO* 201 

the dread the inhabitants entertained of them. These 
two nations traded'with each other. The Teyans were 
said to mount guard in their own country with' trumpets, 
and that the sentinels called each other in the same 
manner as in Spain. There were seven other villages 
between the route the Spaniards pursued ancl the Sierra 
N.evadaa mountains, one of which belonged to Cicuye, and 
one other had been destroyed by the Teyans. 

2 These were not the Sierra Nevada niountains of California, but a 
range in New Mexico a short distance West of the Del Norte, anci 
were given this name by the Spaniards because they were coveredi 
with snow when first seen by them. 



£'02 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXIOO. 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 



THE AraiY LEAVES TIGUEX AND MARCHES OUT UrON THE 

PLAINS. 

COEONADO, having re-establislied tlie cacique in his 
diguitj and authority in Cicuje and made some examina- 
tion of the country, returned to his camp, leaving the 
inhabitants very friendly toward him. Soon aftervv^ard 
a deputation from the large and populous village of Chia,i 
four leagues distant on the river, came in to make terms ; 
and the general sent an officer and a few soldiers back 
with them to their village to hold a council. They made 
submission. To give assurance of the confidence the 
Sjjaniards reposed in them, four old bronzed cannons 
were left with them for safe-keeping. A party of six 
soldiers was next sent to the province of Quirix, which 
likewise contained seven villages. The inhabitants of 
the first village fled at their apjiroach, but upon being 
pursued and assured of good treatment they returned. 
Here the Spaniards remained for some tune waiting for 
the river to break up so that they could cross over. It 

1 This may have been the present Cilia ox Cia, as it is located in the 
.same resioa of country. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 203 

liacl been frozen for four months, and the ice was thick 
enough to bear the weight of a horse ; but they did not 
attempt to cross until it had thawed. 

In the meanwhile the army had been making prepara- 
tions to leave Tiguex and march to Quivira. By this 
time the Spaniards had begun to suspect that. all the 
Turk had told them about the abundance of gold and 
silver in Quivira was not true, and they watched him 
closely. Cervantes, who had charge of him, swore that 
he had seen him conversing witli the devil in a vase of 
water, during the siege, and he related the following 
particulars of the matter : " That while he was keeping 
this man under lock and key, so that he could commu- 
nicate with no one, the Turk* asked him who was the 
Christian that had been killed by the people of Tiguex ; 
that he had answered that no one had been killed, but 
that the Indian had told him : ' You lie ; they have killed 
five Christians and a captain.' Cervantes was obhged to 
assent, for it was truth, and asked the Turk who had 
told him ; but the latter replied, ' I have no need of any 
person to know it.' Since that time Cervantes had 
watched him, and had seen him speak with the devil." 
About this time some Indians arrived from Cibola on a 
visit to the general, and were received very kindly. He 
charged them to extend every assistance to the Spaniards 
who might pass through their country. He gave them 
letters to carry back for Don Pedro de Tobar, who was 
expected shortly to arrive there from Sonora with rein- 
forcements for the army. These letters contained in- 
structions as to the route Coronado would take,. with 
information that he would cause crosses to be erected 
as he advanced into the interior, by which Tobar would 
find other letters. 



204 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

The army left Tiguex on the 5th of May, (1542,) for 
€i(;nye where it arrived in safety in a march of twenty-five 
leagues. 2 According to a j)romise Coronado had made 
the Indians some time before, he restored Bigotes to 
Hberty and permitted him to rejoin his people. They 
received him with many demonstrations of delight, and 
were so well pleased with this generous conduct that 
they furnished an abundance of provisions to the whole 
army. They appeared entirely pacific, and promised 
ever after to live on good terms with the Spaniards. 
Thje cacique and Bogotes gave to Ooronado a young 
Indian named Xabe, a native of Quivira, to serve as 
guide to that country. He confirmed the information 
given by the Turk, that gold and silver were to be found 
there, but said tliey were not so abundant as he had 
represented. 

After a brief rest at Cicuye the Spaniards resumed 
the march. In a few leagues they came to a chain of 
mountains which tliey entered, and toiling up their rugged 
sides crossed them and debouched upon a more level coun- 
try beyond. In a march of four days they arrived at the 
bank of a great rivers which they called the river of Ci- 

2 This distance is overestimated. 

3 Tliis was tlie Rio Grande del Norte, and the chain of mountains 
passed four days before reaching the river was that now known as the 
Jemez mountains. The general direction of the march since leaving 
Cibola, was North-east, though now and then they deviated, either on 
account of natural obstacles or to visit neighboring pueblos. The 
point where the Spaniards crossed the Del Norte was a little North of 
Santa Fe, and between the pueblos of Cochiti and San Yldefonso ; and 
holding on their course must have come out upon the plains somewhere 
North iaud East of where Fort Union now stands. The Indians they 
encountered there were, probably, some of the wandering tribes that 
are still found on the plains, either the Kiowahs, Cheyennes, Arrapa- 
hoes or the Comanches, all of whom dwell in lodges and subsist by the 
<2hase, as did the Querechos described by Castafieda. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW IMEXICO. 205 

cnye because it flowed near that village. Heie tliey were 
obliged to halt for several days in order to construct a 
bridge! when they crossed over and continued their march. 
They now entered a mountainous country over which 
they held their course with no greater obstacles than na- 
ture presented, for the space of ten days, when they 
■encountered some Indians who dwelt in tents like Arabs. 
They were called Querechos. Their tents or lodges were 
•made of tanned buffalo skin, and they lived upon the 
flesh of this animal. They were not alarmed at the sight 
of strangers coming into their country, but came out of 
their lodges to meet them and. see who they were. They 
asked the advance guard to direct them to the chief, when 
they were conducted to Coronado, whom they approached 
and conversed with by signs. They appeared to be an 
intelligent people and made themselves so well understood 
-by signs that the Spaniards had no difficulty in conversing 
with them without the assistance of an interpreter. In- 
quiry was made of them whether gold and silver abounded 
■in the Qnivira country they were in search of; when 
they confirmed all the Turk had said, but not until after 
they had first seen and talked with that Indian. They 
told Coronado that by going toward the rising sUn they 
would come to a very great rivero which might be 
followed for ninety days down its banks without leaving 
an inhabited country ; it was more than a league l)road 
and was covered with a great 'number of canoes. The 
first village upon it they called Haxa. The next day the 

4 During my residence in New Mexico, I was told that some remains 
of what v/ere supposed to have been a bridge across the Del Norte, 
were still to be seen about where I have located the crossing. 

5 Probably the Arkansas, as that is much the largest river to ba ma! 
'with on the plains in crossing them in the latitude of Santa Fe. 



206 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO^ 

Indians broke np their camp and moved away, transport- 
ing all their baggage upon the backs of dogs, of which 
they had a large number with them. 

The army continued the march toward the South-east, 
and in two days came up with the Quereclios wlio had 
pitched their camp. The Spaniards were now fairly out 
upon the great plains that lie between the eastern slope 
of the Rocky mountains and tlie Mississippi river, and 
extend from the British Possessions in the North, to the 
gulf of Mexico in the South. They were sm-rounded by 
a nearly level country covered with tall grass, on which 
immense herds of buffaloes were pasturing in every di- 
rection. 6 The Indians again assured them that they 

6 Castafieda, in speaking of tlie plains and what tliey saw there, 
among other things writes as follows : " Who would believe that a 
thousand horses, one hundred and iifty cows of Spanish breed, and 
more than tive thousand sheep, and fifteen hundred persons, including 
Indian servants, would not leave the slightest trace of their passage in 
the desert, and that it was necessary to raise, from point to point, 
heaps of stones and buffalo bones, in order that the rear- guard might 
follow us, for the grass, short as it was, rose up after being trodden 
down, as straight and fresh as ever. 

•'Another very astonishing thing is that on the eastern margin of 
one of the salt lakes towiird the South, was found a spot almost half 
a musket shot long, entirely covered with buffalo bones to the height 
of twelve feet, and eighteen feet broad, which is surprising in a desert 
country where no one could have brought these bones together. It is 
pretended that when the lake is troubled by the North winds, it throws 
upon the opposite shore the bones of all animals which have perished 
\a coming to drink. 

"The first time we encountered the buffalo, all the horses took to 
flight on seeing them, for they are horrible to the sight." 

The following is Castaiieda's description of the bufliilo, which will 
answer very well at the present day. There can be no doubt, what- 
ever, of the identity of the animal here described with the American 
bison or buffalo. He says : 

"They have a broad and short face, eyes two palms from each 
other, and projecting in such a manner sideways that they can see a 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 207 

would arrive at many villages b}^ traveling toward the 
East, which encouraged them to continue in that direction. 
Here one man was lost, having gone out hunting and 
not being able to find his way back to camp ; and an ofhcer, 
named Garcia, accidentally broke his arm. The Turk 
told Coronado they were now near the village of Haxa, 
and he dispatched Diego Lopez with a small party of 
men in search of it, with orders to march as rapidly as 
possible, and to lose no time in returning to the main 
body. 

The next day the army again came in siglit of buifaloes 

pursuer. Their beard is like that of goats, and so long that it drags 
the ground when they lower the head. They have, on the anterior 
portion of the body a frizzled hair like sheep's wool ; it is very fine 
upon the croup and sleek like a lion's mane. Their horns are very 
short and thick,, and can scarcely be seen through the hair. They al - 
ways change their hair in May, and at this season they really resemble 
lions. To make it drop more quickly, for they change it as adders do 
Iheir skins, they roll among the brush-wood which they find in the 
ravines. 

" Their tail is very short and terminates in a great tuft. When they 
run they carry it in the air like scorpious. When quite young they 
are tawny and resemble our calves, but as age increases they change 
color and form. 

" Another thing which struck us was that all the old buffaloes that 
we killed had the left ear cloven, while it was entire in the young ; 
we could never discover the reason of this. 

" Their wool is so fine that handsome clothes would certainly be 
made of it, but it cannot be died, for it is a tawny red. We were much 
surprised at sometimes meeting innumerable herds of bulls without a 
single cow, and other herds of cows without bulls. It would some- 
times be forty leagues from one herd to another, and that in a country 
so level that from a distance the sky was seen between their legs, so 
that when many were together, they would have been called pines 
whose foliage united, and if but one was seen his legs had the effect of 
four pines. When near, then it was impossible by an effort, to i)er- 
ceive the ground beyond, for all this country is so flat, that turn which 
way we will, the sky and the grass are alone to be seen," 



208 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

which covered the plains in ahnost incredible numbers. 
They took to flight on the appearance of the Spaniards, 
and overturned each other in their anxiety to escape. In 
their cou^i-se lay a large and deep ravine, but as they could 
not stop with the countless thousands in the rear pushing 
them on, they tumbled headlong into it, and so many fell 
unable to rise again, that the bodies of the fallen formed 
a bridge for the others to cross over on. The cavalry 
were in hot pursuit of the flying herd, and before they 
^vere aware of it, they w^ere in the ravine among the 
struggling animals. They extricated themselves with 
difhculty, and some of the horses became so much en- 
tangled that they could not be recovered, and were neither 
seen nor heard of again. Lopez had now been gone some 
time and the general began to be uneasy at his long- 
absence. He was expecting him back every moment, 
l»ut heard no tidings of him.' He therefore sent parties 
out to scour the surrounding country and to examine botli 
banks of the little river which ran near wliere the army 
then was. As the tall grass which covered the whole 
country rose up again almost immediately after being 
trampled down, it was an easy matter for one to lose 
his way. The lost party were discovered by some Indians 
out gathering fruit near where the soldiers were search- 
ing for them, and were conducted back to camp. Lopez 
reported that they had traveled more than twenty leagues, 
and had seen nothing Imt buffaloes and sky. 

Coronado was at a loss to know what to believe con- 
cerning the Quivira, amid the conflicting rumors that 
reached him. He had with him a painted Indian named 
Sopete, said to be a native of that ^ province, who gave a 
'very different account of the country from the Turk, 
'Whom the whole- army now beganto suspect of misrepre- 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 209 

■ senting things. For a time Sopete was believed ; but 
when the Qiierechos confirmed the story of the Turk, the 
account of the former fell into disrepute, and he was be- 
lieved no longer. In order to learn the truth of the 
matter, if possible, he determined to send an expedition 
to explore the country in the direction where he supposed 
•Quivira to lie. For this purpose he detailed Don Rodrigo 
]\Iaklonado with his company, who immediately left camp 
on that service. In his march he came to a great ravine 
in which was a village of Indians that Cabeza de Vaca 
and his companions had visited when they passed througli 
the country.7 They made Maldonado a present of a 
quantity of skins, a very large tent or lodge, and many 
other things. Here he encamped and sent some of his 
soldiers back to the army with a request to Coronado that 
he should come to that point. The army marched thither 
and in a few days all the troops were united in the ravine. 
The general determined to divide the skins given to ]\Ial- 
donado among the whole army, and in order to prevent 
any of them being taken before the distribution should 
be lAade, he placed a guard over them. But the guard 
permitted some persons to take a few, when the soldiers 
fearing that a fair division would not be made, "carried 
the whole of them, off without permission. The Indians 
took part in the general scramble but tliey did not get 
any of them. The women and children cried bitterly 
when they saw the skins in the possession of the Span- 
iardSj'as they had not believed they would carry them off, 
but supposed they would bless them as Cabeza de Vaca 
had done. In the village they saw an Indian woman as 

7 No definite location can be given to this point except that it was 
out upon the plains, probably about South-east of the latitude of Sauta 

14 



210 THE CONQUEST OF l^EW MEXICO. 

white as themselves, with her chin painted after the 
fashion of the Moors. 

While the army remained at this place there arose a 
furious storm of wind and hail. The hail stones are said 
to have been as large as " porringers," and some of them 
larger, and covered the ground to the depth of a foot, or 
a foot and a half. They fell with such force as to ruin 
many of the tents, indent the helmets of the soldiers, and 
wouikI several men ; besides breaking all the dishes in 
camp, which was deemed the greatest calamity, as none 
others could be procured in the country to replace them. 
The violence of the storm caused a stampede among the 
animals, and all broke loose except two or three horses 
which were held by negroes, who wore helmets upoia 
their heads to protect them from tlie hail stones. The 
wind raised some of the horses off their feet and tln-ew 
them with great violence against the sides of the ravine, 
and others were forced into places from which they were 
rescued with difSculty. There was neither maize nor 
bread in this country, and the people lived on raw or 
badly-cooked meat and fruits.s 

8 Nothing is said of the manners and customs of the inhabitants of 
this region, nor of their particular location except being near a large 
and deep ravine. But Maldonado, in his exploration, had undoubtedly 
advanced toward the East from the former position of the army. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 211 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



COEONADO MAECHES TO QUIVIRA ; SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
PLAIN INDIANS. 

The Spaniards found this region of tlie plains very 
populous. A reconnoitering party sent out by Coronado 
came to a people inhabiting lints resembling ' ' heaths,"i 
and of different construction from those in the ravine ; 
and they found 15eans, plnms which resembled those of 
Spain, and grape vines. This place was called Cona. 
The army again resumed its march, and for tli^-ee days 
it passed through an inhabited country. It was accom- 
panied by some Teyas Indians as guides, who took with 
them their women and children, and, as was their custom, 
had a large number of dogs to carry their baggage. They 
were intelligent and appeared to be well acquainted witli 
the country. Their account of it differed very mucli 
from that given by the Turk, whom the Spaniards now 
believed had deceived them, and they began to have 
confidence in the painted Indian. The Teyans said the 
country of Quivira was toward the North, 2 but that there 
was no good road leading thither. The army encoun- 

1 "D'autres cabanes semblables a des bruye'res (alixares)." 

2 South. 



212 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

tered other large ravines, one of which was a league 
broad, and at the bottom was a fertile little plain watered 
by a small stream. Here w^ere found growing, trees, 
grape vines, rose bushes, plums similar to those of Castile, 
-and poultry like that of New Spain. The inhabitants of 
the country treated their wives well, who were chaste 
and modest in their behavior. They were well clothed 
in dressed-leather, and wore leggings. The women wore 
a mantle of the same matei'ial over the petticoat, falling 
from the shoulders, with trimmed and ornamented 
sleeves ; and also another little garment said to resemble 
an expiatorj" vestment, which reached down to the middle 
of the body over the petticoat, and was ornamented with 
tassels. 

The army having marched a long distance out upon 
the plains, and the provisions beginning to fail without 
any prospect of obtaining a new supply, a council of the 
officers was held to determine the best bourse to be pur- 
sued. They were satisfied that the Turk had deceived 
them in conducting them to this point, and that his 
advice could no longer be taken with safety. The 
council decided that Coronado, with a small escort, should 
continue his search for Quivira, while the army should 
retui'n to Tiguex under the command of Tristan de 
Arellano. When this determination was made known to 
the soldiers they expressed great dissatisfaction, saying 
they were ready to die with their general, and implored 
him not to abandon them, but permit them accompany 
him. This he refused to do, but promised to let them 
know in eight days whether they could rejoin him. 

Coronado made preparations to depart for Quivira. 

He selected an escort of thirty horsemen and six foot- 

• Boldier&fromamono; those who were the best mounted and 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 213 

equipped, and had a reputation for courage. He nomi- 
nated Diego Lopez his second in command. The Teyans 
furnished him with, guides, and he also took with him 
Sopete, the painted Indian, and the Turk, the latter 
being loaded with chains as a punishment for his treach- 
ery. Being fully prepared, he left camp in search of 
that almost fabulous country and city, which had engaged 
so many of the thoughts of the Spaniards. 

For a time we will leave the army, and follow the 
fortunes of its general. The Tm'k had conducted the 
Spaniards so much out of their way, that Coronado was 
forty-eight days in reaching Quivira.s His whole march. 

3 lu the county of Valeacia, about hundred and fifty miles, nearly 
due South of Santa Fe, is to be found a ruin which bears the name of 
Quivira, and is believed to be the remains of the town that Coronado 
was in search of. General Carleton, U. S. A., who visited this locality 
a few years ago, gives the following aceou\it of it. He says : " The 
ruins consist of the remains of a large church or cathedral, with a 
monastery attached ; a small church or chapel, and the ruins of the 
town extending nine hundred feet in a direction East and West, and 
three hundred North and South. All these buildings have been con- 
structed of the dark-blue limestone which is found in the vicinity. The 
walls of the cathedral are now about thirty feet in height. It was 
estimated, from the great quantity of stones that have fallen down, 
forming a sort of talus, both with the walls and the outside of them, 
that originally this building was all of fifty feet in height. There is a 
small room to the right as you enter the cathedral, and another room 
which is very large, and which communicates with the main body of 
the building, by a door at the left of the transcept. There was also a 
communication between this large room and the monastery, or system 
of cloisters, which are attached to the cathedral. This building is one 
hundred and eighteen feet long outside, and thirty-two in width. It is 
apparently in a better state of preservation than the cathedral, but yet 
none of the former wood-work remains in it." Among the ruins are 
found great quantities of broken earthenware, such as the Pueblo 
Indians formerly made, some of which shows traces of having beeu 
once handsomely painted and glazed. An old road runs toward the 
Siast, on the bed of which are growing large cedar-trees. The country 



214 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

laj across extensive plains, and was onlj accomplished 
after many hardships and great latigue. The location 
of Quivira was to the West of the great ravine whence 
he set out, and upon a plain within sight of mountains. 
The country was well peopled, and abounded in fruits, 
such .as plums, grapes, nuts and mulberries, and also 
produced rye, grass, oats, j^ennyroyal and flax. The 
latter grew wild ; and the inhabitants did not cultivate 
it, because tliey were not acquainted with its use. 
The houses were round, without walls, with roofs of 

in the vicinity shows no traces of former cultivation, and at the present 
day the nearest water is fifteen miles off. The ruins now found at 
Quivira are the remains of buildings erected by the Spaniards after 
they had taken possession of the country and Christianized the Indians : 
while the houses of the natives have so completely passed away as not 
to leave a trace behind them. After the most careful examina- 
tion of the subject there is no other location which I am able to give 
the Quivira of Castaneda. These ruins are in the same region of 
country where he locates Quivira. In the course of more than three 
hundred years the country has undergone such change as to reduce it 
from a fertile and populous region, as the Spaniards then described it, 
to an uninhabited and barren waste, as found at the present day. 

In the same section of country are other ruins. Forty miles North- 
west of Quivira are those of Quarra, on a small stream that soon sinks 
into the earth and disappears. Here are the remains of a church,^ 
portions of which are in tolerable preservation. Near by are two 
groves ot apple trees which are said to have been planted when these 
villages were inhabited. As these trees are not indigenous to the 
tountry they were probably planted by Spanish priests when the town 
was a missionary station. Twelve miles South of Quarra are the ruins 
of Abo. The ruin of the chun'ih shows that the building was large, 
built in the form of a cross, the long arm being one hundred and thirty- 
two feet in length, and the short arm forty-one feet. The material of 
construction was red sandstone. Some of the timbers show marks of 
the axe, and no doubt the building was the work of Spaniards. Near by 
are heaps of stones that mark the site of ruined houses. The remains 
of an outer wall can be traced nine hundred and fifty feet from North to 
South and four hundred and fifty from East to West. The wall, no 
doubt, enclosed the Indian town, and with theh" compact way of build- 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 215 

straw, raider which the people slept and kept their 
]n-operty. The village resembled those of New Spain, 
and the manners and customs of the people were the 
same as those of the Teyans. The people had neither 
gold nor sih^er, nor were they acquainted with these 
metals. The cacique wore a plate of copper upon his 
breast, which he prized very highly. 

In the vicinity of Quivira were several other populous 
provinces, some of which were said to have been visited 
by a Portuguese, a monk, a negro, and some Indians of 

ing the population must have been considerable. The country around 
is barren and rolling, covered with pine trees and without evidence ot 
ever having been under cultivation. While this work was in press, the 
following paragraph, in the Semi- Weekly Bevieio, published at Al- 
buquerque, New Mexico, of April IGth, 1869, relating to some recent 
discoveries at the Gran Quivira, fell under my notice, viz : 

" We understand that a tunnel and several shafts have recently been 
discovered within a distance of twenty miles of the ruins of Gran 
Quivira. The mouth of the tunnel had been closed with stone masonry, 
and the wall concealed with earth, and the shafts concealed in like 
raanner. The tunnels and shafts are supposed to be a portion bf the 
Gran Quivira mines which were concealed when the Indians drove 
the Spaniards out of the country some three hundred years ago, and 
all traces of which were so obliterated that searchers gave them up as 
having had existence only in the imagination of travelers and gossips ; 
?.nd the town of Gran Quivira was considered by some savans to have 
been merely a Jesuit mission, and by others an ancient Aztec city, 
rather than the habitation of miners for the precious metals and the 
traders who supplied them and their families. The discovery was 
purely accidental ; and Ti>ne, which gives a lucid solution of questions 
which perplex the brains of philosophers and statesmen for ages, 
revealed these tunnels and shafts to persons who were not searching 
for them, long after intelligent men, guided by tradition and old manu- 
scripts, had abandoned them as romantic. Time's process was simple ; 
the seasons caused the masonry and earth which concealed it to ' settle ' 
in a manner to expose the entrances of tunnel and shafts, and thereby 
settled the question of their existence. We have been shown speci- 
mens of quartz taken from the tunnel at sixty feet distance from the 
.entrance. Howrich it will prove is a questijon for assayera." 



210 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

the province of Capetlan. The monk was killed becanso 
lie wished to go among the enemies of the Tejans, and 
the Portuguese made his escape to New Spain on horse- 
back. The Mexican Indians buried the monk, by 
permission of those who had killed him, and then- 
rejoined the Portuguese. In speaking of this country 
Casteiiada says : "In this country takes its rise the great 
river of Espiritu Santa which Don, Hernando de Soto 
discovered in Florida ; it traverses afterward a province 
called Arache. The sources were not seen ; they were 
very far distant, and on the slope of the Cordillera 
toward the plains. It crosses them entirely, as well as 
the Cordillera of the North Sea. Its mouth is three 
hundred leagues from the spot where Hernando de Soto 
and his companions embarked. The course of the river 
is so long, and it receives so many aiSuents, that it has a 
prodigious breadth where it empties into the sea; one i& 
long in fresh v/ater after having lost sight of land. "4 

After Coronado had reached Quivira and was satisfied 
how greatly the Turk had deceived him both about the- 

4 Juan Jaramilla, a captain in the army of Coronado, in his relation 
of the march gives the following account of the country of Quivira : 

"This country has a superb appearance, and such that I have not 
seen any better in all Spain, nor in Italy, or in France, nor in any 
country where I have been in the service of his majesty. It is not a 
country of mountains ; there are only some hills, plains, and streams 
of very beautiful water ; it satisfied me completely. I presume that 
it ought to be very fertile and favorable to the culture of all species of 
fruits. As for flocks, experience proves that it is very suitable, judg- 
ing from the multitude of animals that are found there, and which is aa 
considerable as can be imagined. We found Spanish prunes, and a 
specie which is not entirely red, but resembles the red prunes. It is 
certain that the tree and the fruit are of the same specie as those of 
Spain. The taste of these prunes is excellent. We found in the 
country some cows, flax which grows without culture in little shoots 
separate from each other; and as the savage flocks do not eat it one. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 217. 

country and the manner of reaching it, he interrogated, 
him as to his motives for practicing so much deception. 
He rephed that the people of Cicuje had requested him. 
to lead them astray upon the plains so that their horses 
would perish, when the men, returning exhausted, could 
be easily overcome and killed by them in revenge for all 
the injuries they had suftered from the Spaniards; that 
he had agreed to do this because he supposed the Chris- 
tians could not live by hunting, but could only subsist 
on corn, and their destruction would be easy ; and that 
he had never known where there was either gold or 
silver. For this treachery, as well as to prevent him 
giving dangerous information to the people of the coun- 
try, he was put to death. This delighted Sopete, the 
Teyas Indian, because the Turk had constantly traduced 
him, and prevailed upon the Spaniards not to believe 
him. 

We left the army encamped in the valley, where it 
remained for fifteen days, and until an order was received 
fvom the general for it to return to Tiguex, at which place 

sees the stalks and the blue flowers ; although small U is excellent. 
There is found in some of the streams sumac not unlike that of Spain, 
and a grape of very good taste, although it may not be cultivated. 
The houses of these Indians are of straw, a very great number being 
of a circular shape ; the straw descends almost to the earth like walls ; 
they do not resemble ours ; on the outside and top there is a specie of 
chapel or turret having an entrance where the Indians sit or sleep. In 
the village where the cross v/as erected the Indian Ysopete was left, 
and they took in place of him five or six others to conduct us to houses 
covered with flat roofs, and we traveled by the same road that we had 
already passed over, as far as the river to which we gave the name of 
Saint Peter and Saint Paul. From this place we left the road that we 
had followed. The guides now took to the right and conducted us in 
the midst of marshes and cows, in a good country, although there is 
not seen on any side other signs of a road than those left by the cows, 
even as I have said \L"—Ternaiix Camjoans, Appendice, p. 378.. 



218 THE CONQUEST GF NEW MEXICO. 

lie promised to join them. In the meantime the troops 
had killed a great nmnber of buffaloes in order to procure 
provisions for the return march. In the chase of these 
animals many of the soldiers became lost upon the plains, 
and as the camp was in the valley and shut out from 
their sight, they oftentimes had great difficulty in finding 
their way back. An Indian in pursuit of bufialoes 
pierced one of them through and through with an arrow, 
which, as the Spaniards had never witnessed such an 
exploit before, greatly astonished them. It was the 
practice, every evening, to call the roll of those who 
were missing, fire cannons, sound trumpets, and kindle 
fires as signals to point out the direction of the camp. 
The Indians met some upon the plains and brought 
them in, and a few of the most skillful were able to find, 
their way back without assistance. The country was so 
level, that the only way of determining their position 
was to keep in mind the point where the sun had risen 
in the morning when they left camp, and to remain near, 
the game they killed until they could see in what direc- 
tion it would set ; when they could calculate the direction 
to camp. 

The Spaniards had m'arched out uj^on the plains some 
hundred and fifty leagues, according to their estimate. 5 
This whole distance the country was nearly a dead level, 
without mountain or hill to diversity the even surface. 
They saw several small ponds, some fresh and others salt, 
bordered by tall grass. A few trees were found growing 
along the banks of the streams which ran through the 
ravines, into which they descended by the paths the 

5 This estimate of the distance is too great. One hundred and fifty 
leagues would have brought them to the Arkansas river, but Castaneda 
.says nothing about coming to a river of such magnitude. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 219 

l>ufFaloes made in going to water. The inhabitants were 
wandering Indians who h'ved in lodges, of whom they 
found two tribes, the Querechos and Teyans;6 they were 
braver artd more accustomed to war than those who lived 
in the villages, and were a taller and stronger race of 
men. They subsisted entirely by the chase of the buf- 
falo, the skins of which they preserved and dressed and 
bartered to their neighbors. They passed the summer 
npon the plains, and in the winter retired to the villages, 
where they lived in peace and harmony with the inhabi- 
tants until the spring opened. Some went to Cicuye, and 
othei's to Quivira, or neighboring towns. The baggage 
was fastened on the backs of their dogs by means of a 
girth and small pack-saddle ; and when the pack became 
disarranged the dogs_ made a sign by barking, for their 
masters to adjust it. No other domestic animal was seen 
among them. These Indians were mild and gentle in 
their manners ; and besides eating raw meat they drank 
blood, but did not eat human ilesh. 

They prepared buffalo meat by cutting it into thin 
slices and drying it in the sun, after which they pounded 
it into a powder.? They cooked it by putting it into a 
pot with water, and boiling, when it expanded so much 
that a single handful made a meal. The meat was 
always prepared with the fat, which was carefully pre- 
served when the animal was killed. The blood of the 
buflfalo and other animals was esteemed a great delicacy, 
which they preserved and drank as a usual beverage. 
They filled a large intestine with it, which they carried 

6 It might be inferred tliat those who lived in the ravines had habi- 
tations of a more permanent kind, and were a distinct, or at least a 
different, people from those who dwelt in tents or lodges. 

7 Buffalo meat is cured in the same manner by the New Mexicans. 



220 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

around the neck, and when diy quenched their thirst 
from it. When they opened a bufialo they collected the- 
masticated grass found in the stomach, which they 
squeezed and drank as it ran out. This, also, they 
relished exceedingly, and considered it the whole sub- 
stance of the belly. They used a pebble fastened to the 
end of a stick for a knife, with which they could cut up 
a buffalo with the same facility as though the instrument 
had been made of the best steel. They opened the 
animal on the back, and divided it at the joints with 
a rapidity that astonished the Spaniards. They sharp- 
ened these pebbles on tlieir teeth. There were a great 
many white wolve's upon the plains, which pursued the 
buffalo, but they were found of no other color. Spotted 
stags abounded in great numbers, and when dead and 
while still warm, the hair was easily taken off" by the 
hand. Hares were numerous, and so tame that they 
allowed the horsemen to kill them with the lance. They 
were not afraid of buffaloes, but Avould tlee before a man. 
on foot. 



ITHE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICOc , 221 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCES THE SPANIARDS VISITED; 
THE AE3IY RETURNS TO TIGUEX. 

Up to the point where the army was left upon the plains, 
the Spaniards had passed through tlie following pro- 
vinces, which are given in the words of Castaneda, viz. : 

" Cibola is the first province ; it contains seven villages. 
Tusayan, seven ; the rock of Aciico, one ; Tiguex, twelve ; 
Tutahaco, eight, (these villages are found in descending 
tlie river) ; Quirix, seven ; in the snowy mountains, seven ; 
Ximena, three; Cicuye, one; Hemes, seven; Aguasca- 
lientes, three ; Ynqueyunque of the mountains, six ; 
Valladolid or Braba, one ; Chia, one, which makes in all 
seventy. Tiguex is the central point, and Valladolid the 
last toward the North-east, i The four villages on the 
river below Tiguex are toward the South-east because 
the river makes an elbow to the East ; it is reckoned 
about one hundred and thirty leagues from the highest 
point to the lowest, reached by the cxj^edition. This 
interval is wholly inhabited ; here are situated the seventy 
villages of which I have spoken ; judging from appear- 

i This direction is coreect if taken from Cibola, but not otherwise. 



222 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

ance tliey may contain about twenty thousand men. The 
rest of the country is entirely desert ; not the smallest 
hut is seen. This circumstance, the customs and forms 
of government of the nations, wholly different from all 
those hitherto discovered, prove that they have come 
from that part of the great Indias, the coasts of which 
touch those of this country to the Westward. They 
have been able to arrive by following the course of the 
river, after having crossed the mountains, and establish 
themselves in places that seemed advantageous. As they 
have multiplied they have built other villages until the 
river failed them, by sinking in the earth. When it 
reappears it takes the direction of Florida. There exist, 
they say, other villages on the bank of this river, but 
they were not visited ; under the advice of the Turk wc 
preferred crossing the mountains where it takes its source. 
I believe great riches would l)e found in the country 
whence these Indians have come. From the route they 
followed they must have come from the extremity of the 
East Indias, and from a very unknown portion which, 
from the configuration of the coasts, would be situated 
very far in the interior between China and Norway. It 
must indeed be an immense distance from one sea to the 
other agreeably to the form of the coasts, as discovered 
bv captain Yillalobos who went in that direction in 
search of China. It is the same if we follow the coast 
of F'lorida ; it continually approaches Norway until we 
reach the country of God, (Newfoundland). 

" To return to our subject. I will say then that in 
the length of one hundred and thirty leagues, following 
the course of the river, and in a breadth of thirty, no 
more inhabitants are seen than I have above mentioned. 
])»Iany governments of New Spain contain a much more 



THE CONQUEST 6F NEW MEXICO. 223 

considerable population. In many villages are found 
pieces of silver-ore, which serve the natives in varnishing 
and painting earthenware." 

At the close of the last chapter we left the army 
encamped upon the plains. As soon as the messenger 
from Coronado arrived, the troops made immediate pre- 
parations to begin the return march. Leaving the valley 
they marched to the country of the Teyas Indians, who 
furnished them with guides to conduct them to Tignex 
by a nearer route than the one they had come. They 
returned through a new part of the cAntry, and further 
South, with which the guides appeared to be perfectly 
acquainted. Castaiieda gives the following as the manner 
in which they guided the army on its march : " In the 
morning they observed where the sun rose, and took 
their course by shooting an arrow before them ; before 
reaching this arrow they discliarged another, and in this 
manner they marched the entire route up to the place 
they found water and encamped." They passed a num- 
ber of salt marshes or lakes, where they found a large 
quantity of salt, both in cakes and in a crystalline form.a 
Some of the cakes were several feet in length, four or 
live inches thick, and floated upon the top of the water. 
It was bitter to the taste. On the plains they encoun- 
tered a great number of small animals that resembled the 
squirrel, and lived in holes they dug in the ground.s 
They struck the river Cicuye more than thirty leao-nes 
below the point where they had crossed it in marching 
to the plains, whence they followed up the I^ank, 
which abounded with fruit similar to the Muscat grape. 

2 There are salt lakes ia Valencia and Berualillo counties, New 
Mexico. 

3 Prairie dogs which are still found all over the plains. 



224 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

The plant was about six feet liigli, with a leaf that 
resembled parsley. The Indians told them that this 
river discharged itself into the Tignex about twenty days' 
journey distant, and thence_ ran Eastward, but the Span- 
iards supposed it emptied into the river Espiritu Santa 
(Mississippi). They ascended the river to Cicuye. The 
inhabitants took up arms and refused to furnish them 
with provisions, and those who were disposed to be 
friendly were compelled to quit their homes and leave 
the village. The army thence continued its march to 
Tiguex, where i# arrived in good order. During the 
march upon the plains an Indian woman, whom captain 
Juan de Saldebar got for a servant at Tiguex, where 
he was a slave, made her' escape. Shq recognized some 
part of the country they passed through, when, plunging 
into a ravine, she succeeded in eluding her pursuers and 
getting off. She fled toward the East and is said to have 
fallen in with a portion of De Soto's army coming 
West from Elorida, whom she told that she had left a 
party of Spaniards nine days before, exploring the coun- 
try. Castaueda says that this was related to him by 
some of De Soto's men after they had arrived in New 
Spain, and from which it appears that the two expedi- 
tions approached very near to each other from opposite 
directions. 

The army, under the command of Don Tristan de 
Arellano, reached Tiguex about the middle of July, 
1542. The general had not yet returned ; and as it was 
expected the troops would winter here, Arellano took the 
necessary steps to lay in a supply of provisions. For 
this purpose he sent officers in various directions to 
collect them, some of whom penetrated into portions of 
the country not before explored. Captain Erancisco de 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW JIEXICO. "225 

Barrio ascended the river some distance and visited the 
two provinces of Hemes and Ynquejunque, The inhab- / 
itants of the former received him friendly, and furnished 
supplies, while those of the latter abandoned their villages 
on the bank of the river and fled to the mountains, where 
they had others strongly fortified, and which could not 
be approached with horses. Considerable provisions 
were found in the deserted villages, which the Spaniards 
seized; and they also saw a good deal of handsome 
glazed pottery, well made and highly ornamented. Man} 
jars were filled with a brilliant metal resembling silver, 
supposed 1^ have been the material the Indians used in 
glazing their pottery. From its strong resemblance to 
silver the Spaniards believed this metal was to be found • 
in that country. Twenty leagues higher up tlie river 
they came to a large village called Braba, which they / 
named Valladolid. It was built upon both sides of the 
river, which was crossed by bridges made of pine logs 
squared, and very well fastened together. Here were 
found vapor-baths more extensive than any they had yet 
seen in the country ; being supported by wooden pillars 
twelve feet high, and about as many in circumference. 
The country was elevated and cold and the river deep 
and rapid. Thence captain Barrio returned to camp. 
Another oflicer followed down the river until he arrived 
at a point where it sunk into the ground and became^ 
lost, eighty leagues below Tiguex. He discovered four y 
large villages, which submitted. The inhabitants told 
him that if he would follow the river some distance 
further down he would arrive at the place where it came 
out of the ground larger than when it sunk ; but as he 
had no orders to proceed beyond eighty leagues he re- 

t turned to camp, 
15 



22^6 THE CONQUEST OF NEAV MEXICO. 

As tliG general had not yet returned from Qtii\'Ii''ft 
some alarm was felt at his absence, and Arellano deter- 
mined to go in search of him. With an escort of forty 
horsemen he marched to Cicnye, whose inhabitants made 
an attack upon hinj. The fight continued four days, 
during which time Arellano fired several cannon balls into 
the village, and severely chastised them, lie killed two 
of their chiefs. While here he heard that Coronado was 
on his return, and therefore waited his arrival to afford 
him protection if it should be required. The soldiers 
^velcomed the general back, but they were much disap- 
pointed when informed that he had brought ijeitlier gold 
^lor silver. Some tliought he had not penetrated far 
enough into the coun-try, and probably was returning for 
more troops. The Indian, Xaba, had encouraged the 
soldiers in the belief that lie would bring back some of 
the precious metals, and therefore wdien told that none 
had been found he was much mortified, because he had 
boasted that his prediction would come true.r Coronado 
was forty days returning from Quivira, and arrived at 
Cicuye in the month of August^ when the rainy season 
had already set in. He continued his march to Tiguex, 
where he determined to spend the winter, and in the 
spring, with the whole array, advance further into the 
interior. The inhabitants of the country through which 
he had traveled, on his return from Quivira, had spoken 
of a populous region called AcDchis, which resembled 
Spain, and was watered by great rivers. It was expected 
that gold could be found in abundance, and as he hoped 
to obtain wealth enough there to repay him for all his 
hardships, he was anxious to penetrate into and explore 
the country. 

Shortly after Coronado reached Tiguex, Don Pedro 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 227 

Ue Tobar arriyed witli reinforcements from San Hiero- 
nimo. Castaneda records in his jonrnal tliat these fresh 
troops " came with their noses in the air, hoping to find 
the general already in the rich country of which the 
"Turk had spoken," and were greatly disappointed to meet 
him at Tiguex. Tobar brought letters for the troops, 
nmong wliich was one for Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, 
one of the most valiant of the captains, which announced 
the death of his brother in Spain, by which he inherited 
the family estate. He left camp to return home on leave 
of absence, accompanied by others who, having become 
tired of military life^ returned to Mexico to establish 
themselves there. The remainder of the army made 
arrangements to pass the winter in Tiguex. 

Corouado occupied himself, during the winter, in 
pacifying the country, and putting the army in a con- 
dition to take the field in the spring. He exerted all his 
influence to "persuade the inhabitants to return to their 
homes and live in peace and quietness. The army was 
in a sad state, and needed much recruiting before it would 
be fit for active service. The soldiers were almost 
without clothing, and covered with vermin, besides mucli 
broken down by hard marches. Coronado collected all 
the stuffs he could find in the province and had them 
made into uniforms. Much dissatisfaction arose as to tlie 
manner of distributing the clothing, because the officers 
reserved the best part for themselves and friends. The 
general took the part of the troops, which j^roduced a 
misunderstanding between him and the officers, but 
nothing of a serious nature grew out of it. With the 
exception of these little difficulties the winter passed 
tranquilly away, and the opening spring found the army 
in a much more efficient condition than when it had gone 
into winter quarters. 



-22S THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO, 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



'COr.ONADO MEETS WITH AX ACCIDEKT, AND THE ASMl 
RETURNS TO MEXICO. 

At tlie opening of spring Coronado issued orders foi 
tlie army to make immediate preparations to marcli to 
Quivira. The troops Avere almost ready to take the fiehl, 
when he met with an accident which frustrated all his 
plans. On a feast day at this season of the year, as was 
■his custom, he went out on horseback to ride at the ring, 
accompanied by Don Pedro Maldonado. While in full 
career his saddle girth broke and he fell to the ground : 
when the horse of Maldonado, in springing over him. 
kicked him on the head and knocked him senseless. He 
was picked up and carried to liis quarters, where he was 
confined to his bed for a long time, with his life in great 
danger. During his illness all operations were suspended 
and the army rem.ained at Tiguex. When partially 
restored to health, lie received information of the revolt 
of the Indians in the province of Suya, which affectefl 
him very seriously and caused a relapse. Castaueda inti- 
mates that his second illness was more a feint than real, 
assumed in order to excuse his subsequent strange conduct. 

In the meantime it was whisuered around that a 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 220 

hiathematician of Salamanca had predicted that Coronado 
woukl become great and powerful in a distant Land, but 
woiikl afterward enconnter a fall that wonld cause his 
death. This prediction now haunted his mind, and ho 
behoved, or pretended to believe, that the fulfillment of it 
was about to come to pass. Under tlicse circumstances 
he appeared ill at ease, and fearing he was about to die, 
expressed a desire to return home and end his days in 
the bosom of his family. J^iany of the principal ofiicers 
were also anxious to return, and at his soUcitation they 
induced the soldiers to i^rcsent a petition to him, asking 
to be conducted back to New Spain. He now called a 
council of officers to take the matter into consideration ; 
which decided that inasmuch as they had not found any 
rich country, and the land they had taken possession of 
was not fertile enough to be distributed among the sol- 
diers, it would be advisable to return home. An order 
was immediately issued for the army to make x:>reparations 
to march for Mexico. As soon as this decision was made 
a number of the soldiers regretted what they had done, 
and supplicated the general to revoke the order. This 
he declined to do, and, to avoid their intercessions, he 
shut himself up in his quarters and refused to be seen, 
pretending to be much sicker than he really was. They 
were anxious to obtain possession of the petition they had 
presented to him, in order to destroy it, so that he would 
have no sanction from them for the course he was about 
to take ; and to prevent them entering the house for this 
purpose, at night, he was obhged to place sentinels Ijcfore 
his door and upon the balcony. They succeeded, never- 
theless, in possessing themselves of his trunk, but did not 
find the wishcd-for paper in it ; which he kept under his 
pillow. The officers wlio repented their decision to 



230 THE CONQUEBT OF NEW MEXICO. ' 

return liomc now made Coronado two propositions ; 
either to leave them sixty men with which to maintain 
themselves in the country, or to take sixty men himself 
and return to New Spain, leaving the command of the 
army to another officer. These propositions not being 
approved by a majority of the troops, he refused to accept 
either. The officers yielded the point, as they were 
obliged to submit to the general, but they lost all zeal 
for the service and affection for their chief. The orders 
for the return march were announced anew, and the 
officers and men busied themselves in making the 
necessary preparations. 

While the army is getting ready to march from Tiguex, 
let us notice the events that had been taking place in the 
province of Suya. When Don Garcia Lopez dc Cardenas 
arrived there, on liis way to Spain, he found the Indians 
in a state of revolt, and immediately retm-ned to the army 
to inform Coronado of the condition of things. The 
garrison left there consisted of the most turbulent and 
seditious soldiers in the army, who would neither su])mit 
to their own officers, or to those of the civil government. 
They were in a state of daily mutiny, and at last took up 
their arms and marched for Culiacan, leaving behind their 
captain, Diego de Alcarraz, and a few sicli men. Some 
of the deserters were killed on the way, while the rest 
reached their place of destination, where they were placed 
in confinement by Don Hernando Arias de Saavedra. 

Upon the departure of the garrison the Indians became 
more troublesome than before, and threatened an attack. 
The town was built upon the bank of a small stream and 
of easy access to the inhabitants of all the surrounding 
country. One night fires were seen blazing upon the 
hills around, when the Spaniards, expecting the enemy. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



231 



doubled the guard ; but eveiytliing remaining quiet tliey 
i-elaxed tbeir Tigilance toward morning. In the meantime 
the Indians had entered the place under cover of the 
darkness, but their presence was not known until the}' 
commenced the attack. The garrison was taken com- 
pletely by surprise and made but a feeble resistance. 
They attempted to leave the town, but were met and 
driven back with the loss of their commanding officer. 
A few of tlie horsemen cut their way through the enemj 
and made their escape. The Indians effected their pur- 
pose of sacking the place and retreated loaded with booty ; 
besides kilHng upward of twenty soldiers and several 
servants, whom they shot with poisoned arrows. The 
survivors marched for Culiacan the next morning, where 
they arrived in safety, after suffering many hardships on 
the road. 

The army marched from Tiguex, for New Spain, the 
beginning of April, 1543. Coronado left beliind two of 
the missionaries, who determined to remain and make an • 
effort to convert the Indians, named Juan de Padilla, u 
Fraciscan, and Louis, a lay brother.i The Ibrmer intended 
to station himself at Quivira and the latter at Cicnye, and 
before the troops left an escort was furnished them as far 
as the latter x)lace. Padilla was put to death soon after 

1 The following is an additional account of what befel the friars left 
behind in New Mexico, after Coronado and his army had marched, 
translated from the old Spanish Ms., at Santa Fe : 

"When Corouadc^returned to Mexico he left behind, among the 
Indians of Cibola, the father fray Francisco Juan de Padilla, the father 
fray Juan de la Cruz, and a Portuguese named Andres del Campo. 
Soon after the Spaniards departed Padilla and the Portuguese set off in 
search of the country of the Grand Quivira, where the former under- 
stood there were innumerable souls to be saved. After traveling 
geveral days they reached a large settlement in the Quivira country. 
The Indians came out to receive them in battle arr-csy, when the friar, 



232 THE COIiTQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

liis arrival at Quivira. The last that was seen or heard; 
of brother Louis was when on his way with some Indians 
to visit a neighboring province. He said the Indian^ 
treated him kindly, with the exception of the old men 
who disliked him and would most probably cause him to 
be put to death. The general sent him a few sheep foL' 
his support. 

The army returned by the same route by which it had 
entered the country, and but few incidents occurred on 
the homeward march worthy of note. Before reaching 
Gibola a fatal sickness broke out among the troops, of 
which more than thirty died. Here they encamped a 
few days to recruit and make preparations to cross the 
dfeert. A few of the Mexican Indians remained at Cibola,, 
refusing to return to their own country. Resuming the 
march again, the Spaniards crossed the desert and arrived 
in safety at Chichilticale. The Indians followed them 
for two or three days, to pick up whatever might be 
abandoned, but made no hostile demonstrations. Two 
days after their arrival at this place Juan Gallegos came 
in with reinforcements and was much disappointed to 
]neet the army returning, instead of being in the rich 
country described by the Turk. The arrival of this addi- 
tional force induced the officers to renew then- former 
proposition to Coronado ; but neither he nor the soldiers 

knowicg their intentions, told the Portuguese and bis attendants to 
take to flight, while he would await their coming, in order that they 
naight vent their fuiy on him as they ran. Th^ormer took to flight, 
and placing themselves on a height within view, saw what happened 
to the friar. Padilla awaited their coming upon his knees, and wheli 
they arrived where he was they immediately put him to death. The 
same happened to Juan de la Cruz, who was left behind at Cibola, 
which people killed him. The Portuguese and bis attendants made 
their escape and ultimately arrived safely in Mexico, where lie tolc^^ 
'A^hat had occurred." 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 233 

would listen to it. Their faces were turned homeward, 
and they were opposed to retracing their steps. Thence 
again resuming the march they reached Culiacan. On 
this part of the route they met with some opposition from 
the Indians, who killed several soldiers and some horses. 
One day an Indian shot a Spaniard with an arrow freshly 
dipped in poison, and the wound should have been mortal ; 
but qijince juice was applied to the parts and the man's 
life was saved. The wound was on the wrist, and the 
poison was so virulent that the flesh adjacent entirely 
decayed and left the nerves and bones bare, and the 
putrefaction extended up to tlie shoulder. 

Upon the arrival of the army at Culiacan all discipline 
came to an end, and- Coronado, although in the province 
of which he was the governor, found himself without civil 
or military authority. He was enabled, however, by 
means of promises, to collect together most of the strag- 
glers, with whom he continued the march to Compostella, 
where they arrived during the festival of Saint John. 
Between this place and the city of Mexico the march was 
an arduous one and the troops suffered severely. It was 
the rainy season, the streams were much swollen and 
some of them could only be crossed witli difficulty and 
danger. Just before reaching Compostella a soldier fell 
into a river when he was devoured by aligators2 before 
any assistance could be rendered him. Desertions were 
constant and numerous, and when Coronado reached 
Mexico he had not more than an hundred men with him. 
The viceroy was much displeased with the manner in 
whicli, he had conducted the expedition and received him 
coldly. He was soon afterward deprived of his province 
and fell into disgrace. 



•i Probably sharks. 



234 . TH'E CONQUEST OJF NEAV MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XXX 



AUGUSTIN RUIZ AND TWO FRIARS ENTER NEW MEXICO AS 
MISSIONARIES AND ARE RUT TO DEATH BY THE INDIANS. 

The expedition of Coronado resulted so disastrously 
to the Spanish arms, that all desire for further ex- 
ploration into New Mexico was repressed for a number 
of years. The gallant cavaliers who composed his ad- 
venturous little army had been so sanguine of a rich 
harvest of wealth and honors in the almost fabulous 
country of the Seven Cities, that the failure of the 
expedition filled them with sad disappointment. Tlieir 
bright anticipations were dashed to the ground, and they 
turned tlieir attention to other regions which promised a 
more certain realization of their hopes. 

For the space of forty years no further attempt was 
made to penetrate into, and explore, the country, and 
the inhabitants were left undisturbed in their quiet 
mountain valleys. At the end of this time, and in the 
year 1581, a Franciscan friar named Augustin Ruiz was 
living in the valley of. Saint Bartholomew, about two 
hundred leagues from the city of ]\Iexico. He was 
informed by the Conchos and Passaguate Indians, with 
•svhom he had some intercourse, that to the North there 



THE CONQUEST GF NEW MEXICO. 235 

were several large provinces wliicli the Spaniards had 
not yet discovered. Fired with religious ze:d, and moved 
by a strong desire to convert these heathen nations to 
Christianity, Ruiz determined to penetrate this miknown 
region as a soldier of the cross. For this purpose he 
made immediate application to the Cohde de Corunna, 
the viceroy of New Spain, for permission to enter the 
country in order to learn the language and- preach to the 
Indians. At the same time he made a similar application 
to the superiors of h^ own order. License was granted 
by both authorities, and the friar made preparations for 
his journey. 

He selected for his companions two of his brother 
Franciscans, one named Francisco Lopez, who was ap- 
])ointed commissary of the expedition, and the other friar 
Juan de Santa Maria. They were accompanied by twelve 
soldiers, under the command of a captain, who went along 
as an escort and defence against the Lidians, and also for 
the purpose of searching for mines of the precious metals, 
with which the country was said to abound. Ruiz, hav- 
ing completed the necessary arrangements, set out on his 
pious mission. 

They traveled toward the North, and, after a march of 
some two hundred leagues in that direction, arrived in 
the province of the Teguas Indians, who inhabited the 
banks of the Del Norte. They found the country thickly 
populated by various nations, and the inhabitants every- 
where received them in- a friendly manner. They 
continued up the river until they reached the pueblo, or 
village, of Puara.i Here the soldiers became alarmed for 

I This pueblo was situated about eight miles above? the town of Al- 
buquerque, in Ecmalillo couuty, on the Del Norte, but it has long since 
gone to ruins. 



23G THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

tlicir safety, because of the great number of Indians tliey 
saw ; being too few tliemselves to offer resistance in 
case of an attack, and so. distant from tlie Spanish 
settlements that they could not receive any assistance 
from that quarter. For these reasons they declined to 
proceed farther, but resolved to return immediately to 
Saint Bartholomew. The friars used every persuasion 
to induce them to continue on, but it was of no avail, 
and tliey turned their laces homeward. The soldiers 
tried hard to persuade the friars to return home with 
them, but the latter declined to turn back. They 
determined to continue their journey, feeling assured that 
the time had arrived when they would be able to put 
into execution their pious intention of christianizing the 
savages. They were not alarmed at the desertion of the 
soldiers, for. they put their faith and hope in " things not 
of this world," but remained with cheerfulness among 
these heathen nations to instruct them in the knowledge 
of the living God. 

The friars were still at the pueblo of Puara when 
the soldiers abandoned them. They were attended by 
three Indian boys and a Mexican who refused to leave 
them and return with the escort. They remained here 
a few days longer, when they resumed their journey 
toward the North, and in a few leagues-' travel arrived at 
the pueblo of the Galisteo,2 a village of the Tanos nation. 
Thus far they had found the Indians peaceable, who had 
treated them in the most friendly manner possible, and 
provided for all their wants. They were so much pleased 
with the provinces they had passed through, and with 

the apparent mild and amiable chsposition of the inliab- 

« ^ 

2 These pueblos were situated on the Galisteo crock about twenty- 
two miles South of Santa Fc, and arc in ruins. 



THE CONQUEST OF Ni;w MEXICO. 237 

itants, that it was resolved to send -one of their number 
back to New Spain to give information of what they had 
t^een, and invite other friars to come hither. Juan de 
Santa Maria vohmteered to undertake this journey, and' 
having made a few hasty preparations he set out on hi^ 
return. 

Friar Maria was accompanied some distance by Ta^i/, 
and Lopez, when they returned to Puara, where they 
estabhslied themselves for the purpose of learning the 
language of the country. They located at this point 
'l)ecause the Indians had treated them with great kind- 
ness. After bidding farewell to his two companions, 
Maria continued on toward the South. He crossed the 
Sandia mountains, intending to pass by the Salinas (salt, 
lakes), and thence to take a direct course for El Paso 
del Norte, one hundred leagues to the South, tluis making 
a shorter and quicker route than the one by wliich they 
had entered- the comltr3^ The third day, when near the 
pueblo afterward called San Pablo, in the Teguas nation, 
he stopped to rest nnder a tree, where the Indians killed 
him and burnt his remains. 

The two friars lived some time in peace and quiet at 
Puara, and pursued their lal^ors without interruption. 
One afternoon Lopez retired about a league from the 
village to engage in his devotions, and while occupied in 
prayer he was killed by an. Indian, who inflicted two 
mortal wounds upon his temples. The Indians afterward 
pointed out to Ruiz where the body of his companion 
had been buried, which he caused to be disinterred and 
reburied in the pueblo, according to the forms of the 
Catholic religion. The death of Lopez was a severe 
affliction to Ruiz, who mourned his loss in bitterness of 
spirit. He felt now, in truth, that he was alone ii^ tlu- 



238 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

midst of savage nations, with no one npon whom he 
could rely but Him whose cause he espoused. He was 
in no wise discouraged at this gloomy condition of things, 
but resolved to prosecute his mission as long as life should 
last. 

The war captain of Puara was much grieved at the 
death of Lopez, and in order to save E-uiz from the 
same f\ite he removed him to the pueblo of Santiago, a, 
leage and a half up the river. But his death had been 
resolved upon and it was impossible to save him. A few 
days afterward he met the same late as his brethren, and 
almost before the breatli of life was out of his body it 
was thrown into the river, then in flood, as food for the 
fishes. Thus the Teguas Indians completed the w'ork of 
blood, and put to death three pious men who came into 
the wilderness to devote their time and their lives to 
their temporal and spiritual welfare. 

From the sacrifice of these three friars the old chron- 
iclers contend that there sprung a plentiful har^'est of 
souls. They record, that from that time down to the 
year 1629 there were baptised thirty -four thousand six 
hundred and fifty Indians, and many others were in a 
state of conversion; and that in the same period the 
friars had erected, without cost to the government or 
king, forty-three churclies in New J\Iexico. Tlie body of 
Lopez remained buried at Puara for thirty-three years, 
when the place of interment was pointed out to Estevan 
de Perea, commissary of the province. The remains 
were disinterred in the month of February", 1614, and 
deposited in the church of the pueblo of Sandias with 

3 This pueblo is situated on tlie East bank of the Del Norte, a few 
miles above the town of Albuquerque, and contaius detween two and 
three hundred inhabitants. 



THE CONQUEST 6F NSW MEXICO. 239 

great ceremony, a number of priests marching on foot, 
Pressed in full robes. It is related in the writings of one 
of the priests A\'ho was present, that when the procession 
Ijegan to move the saint in the church commenced to 
perform miracles. 

The soldiers who deserted the friars at Puara reached 
Saint Bartholomew in safety, where they related all 
that had taken place since they first set out on their 
journey, and also made a report of the same to the 
viceroy at the city of Mexico. The San Franciscan 
order was much alarmed at tlie situation of their brethren 
who remained l^ehind among the Indians, and they used 
every exertion to persuade a party of soldiers to march 
to their relief. 

At this time there was a cavalier at the mines of Santa 
Barbara of the name of Antonio de Espejo, a native of 
Cordova, and a man of wealth, courage and industry. 
He offered his services to tlie Franciscans for the purpose 
of rescuing their brethren, and declared he was willing to 
risk his life and part of iiis fortune in the enterprise, if 
lie should be authorized to undertake it by some person 
of competent authority. The offer was accepted, and 
governor Juan de Ontrueros, the king's alcalde and chief 
justice of the town of Las quarta Cienegas in the juris- 
diction of Nueva Biscaya, twenty leagues from Santa 
Barbara, granted him license to lead an expedition. He 
was authorized to take with him as many soldiers as 
might be willing to follow his fortunes, or would be 
required to carry out the object of the expedition. 



•240 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



ANTONIO DE ESPEJO UNDERTAKES AN EXPEDITION TO RES- 
CUE THE TWO FKIARS. 

EsPEJO made immediate preparations to march into 
Xew Mexico. He set about the work with such activity 
and energy tliat in the course of a few days he had the 
requisite number of men embodied and a sufficient quan- 
tity of provisions collected. He provided, as a matter of 
precaution, one hundred and fifteen extra mules and 
horses, besides a large supply of arms and munitions of 
war ; and he was accompanied by a number of Indians 
.to assist the soldiers in whatever way their services might 
be required. Everything being in readiness they took up 
"the line of march from the valley of Saint Bartholomew 
on the 10th of December, 1582, and directed their course 
toward the North. 

In a march of ten days they arrived in a province 
inhabited by a people called Conchos, who lived in vil- 
lages of rude houses covered with straw, i Wlien the 
inhabitants heard of their approach they came forth to 



1 These Indians lived in Mexico along the Conchos river, which 
empties iQto the Rio Grande del ISTorte in latitude about 30 degrees. 



THE' CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 241 

meet and give them a friendly Tv-elcome. They went 
ahuost naked, and lived under the government of caciques 
similar to the Indians of Mexico. They were armed with 
])ows and arrows. They raised a great quantity of maize 
or Indian corn, gourds, and melons of good quality ; and 
the streams abounded with lisli of various kinds and of 
fine flavor. Their principal articles of food were conies, 
: hares and bears ; the latter were killed in great numbers 
and were eaten by the inhabitants of the whole province. 
Idols were not seen among these people, nor was an}'- 
form of religious v/orship observed or heard of. The 
Spaniards erected crosses to which the natives made no 
objection ; and the friars explained to them, by the aid 
of interpreters, the meaning of the cross and iiow it was 
an emblem of their religion. The Indians informed them 
of other towns of the same nation twenty leagues distant, 
vv'hither they conducted tiiem. The caciques sent word 
from 07ie town to another, in advance, of the coming of 
the strangers, and upon their arrival they found the 
inhabitants waiting to receive them. 

Having passed through the country of the Conehos 
Indians the Spaniards arrived among the Passaguates, 
their neighbors, who lived in a similar manner. They 
vv'ere well received, but tarried among them a very short 
dme. These Indians, according to the custom of the 
country, and in obedience to the command of the caciques, 
conducted them four days on their march. In this region 
they found many mines of silver, which those skilled in 
metals pronounced very rich, but they were not prepared 
to take possession and woi'k them. Thence they con- 
tinued their march, and in one day arrived in another 
province called Tobosos, whose inhabitants, upon their 

approach, fled into the woods and mountains. Upon 
.16 



242 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

iiiquiiy as to the cause of this strange conduct, Espej&' 
learned that some years before a party of Spanish 
soldiers had come into that country and carried many of 
the people away captive; who, hearing that the Christians 
were again approaching, feared a similar fate awaited 
them a second time. 

Espejo sent messengers after the fugitives to assure 
them they need not be alarmed, as no injury would be 
done them, and requested them to return to their houses. 
Many returned and w^ere received and treated in the 
most friendly manner by the Spaniards, who distril)uted 
presents among them. The captain explained to them, 
through an interpreter, the object of his coming into their 
country, and that his mission was a peaceable one, whicli 
removed all their fears. The friars taught them the_ 
mystery of the cross, and obtained their permission to 
erect some in the country. These Indians conducted the 
Spaniards until they arrived in a country inhabited by a- 
neighboring; nation twelve leagues distant. The Tobosos 
went naked, and were armed v/ith bows and arrows. 

The province into which tlie Tobosos conducted the 
Spaniards was called by the Indians Lumanos2 (Humanos), 
and by the Christians Patarabueyas. They inhabited an 
extensive and populous district of country, which con- 
tained several large towns. The houses were built of 
lime and stone, with flat roofs, and the streets were laid 
out with order and regularity. The inhabitants were a 
people of large stature, and their faces, legs and arms 
were '■'• raced and '■'■ pouncecVs Their mode of govern- 
ment was superior to that of any Indians hitherto met 

2 This province was situated upon the Del Norte river, and most 
probably South of El Paso. 

3 A specres of tattooing. 



"THE CONQUEST OF IfEW MEXICO. 243 

tvitli; and they were provided with an abundance of 
provisions, including several kinds of wild beasts, fishes, 
and fowls. The province was well watered by nnmerons 
rivers, one of which came from the North and emptied 
into the gulf of Mexico, and is represented as being as 
large as the Guadalquiver.i There were several salt 
lakes which produced excellent salt. They were a war- 
like people, and exhibited hostility to the Spaniards as 
soon as they entered the country. The first night they 
were encamped among them they made an attack upon 
their animals, killing five and severely wounding two 
more ; and but for the guard defending them with great 
bravery, they would have killed the whole of them. 
After this they abandoned their town and fled to the 
mountain near by. 

Early the next morning Espejo, accompanied by five 
soldiers well armed, and an interpreter named Peter, a 
native of this nation, went up to thsm in the mountain 
to prevail upon them to return to their village. He 
assured them of his peaceful intentions, and that he had 
come there neither to do them any injury nor to rob 
them of their goods. They believed what he said, 
and descended and re-occupied their houses. He made 
the caciques presents of bracelets of glass, beads, hats, 
and other articles. This course entirely pacified the 
Indians, and gained their confidence; and when the 
Spaniards again resumed their journey a number of them 
accompanied Espejo several days on the way. They 
continued their march along the bank of the Del Norte 
for the space of twelve days, during which time they 
passed through many towns inhabited by the Humanos. 
Notice of their approach was sent in advance, and as 

4 The Rio del Nortd. 



-24-4 "THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

they drew nigli tlie various towns the caciques, unarmed, 
came out to meet and welcome them. They were 
entertained with hospitality, supplied with an aliundanec 
of victuals, and given presents of hides and chamois-skins 
very well dressed, many equal to those of Flanders. 
These Indians were very well clothed. 

The Humanos seemed to have some faint idea of the 
'Christian religion. They made rude figures to represent 
God, at the same time looking up toward heaven. In. 
their language they called the Supreme Being Apalito, 
and acknowledged him for their Lord, "from whose boun- 
tiful hand and mercy they confess that they have received 
their life and being, and these w^orldly goods." Many of 
them brought their wives and children to the friars that 
they might cross, and bless them. Upon being asked 
whence they had obtained a knowledge of God, they 
answered that it was taught them by three Christians and 
a negro who had passed through that part of the country, 
and remained some days among them. From the infor- 
mation the Indians gave of these strangers, the Spaniards 
• were satisfied they were Cabeza de Vaca and his ship- 
wrecked companions, whose adventures across the con- 
tinent have already been given in another part of this 
volume. 

The Spaniards resumed the march, leaving the Indians 
of the pro-vince in peace, and in token of their friendly 
feeling some of them accompanied Espejo to perform 
labor for the soldiers. They continued up the river for 
some days, when they came to another large and populous 
province. The inhabitants had received notice of their 
approach from their neighbors down the river, and as 
was their custom, came forth to conduct them to their 
■''.ullages. Tliey brought with them many articles made 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 245 

of feathers of beautiful workmanship, of various colors, 
and mantles of cotton streaked with blue and white like 
those of China, to trade with the Spaniards. The whole 
population was dressed in chamois-skins well tanned and 
prepared. The knowledge obtained of this province was 
very limited, by reason of the want of an interpreter. 
Espejo was not even able to learn its name, but they 
^held a little intercourse with the inhabitants by means of 
signs. Exhibiting to them some of the precious metals, 
they inquired whether any such was to be found in their 
country ; when they replied, that in a region five days' 
journey to the Westward there was an abundance of the 
same metals, and promised to conduct the Spaniards, 
thither. The Indians afterward conducted them to that 
section of country, but the journal of Espejo says nothing 
about the discovery of gold or silver. 

Continuing their march up the river, the Spaniards 
came to another province more populous than the last ;. 
where the inhabitants received them as friends, and made 
them many presents. Among the articles of food given 
them was a fish taken from one of the lakes in the prov- 
ince, which abounded with them. They remained with 
these people three days, during which time a continued 
scene of rejoicing was kept up, the Indians performing 
many of their dances, and other ceremonies, expressive of 
great joy. They were likewise unable to learn the name. 
of this province, but understood it was very extensive and 
contained a numerous population. Here they found a 
Conchos Indian who explained to them, by signs, that 
at the distance of fifteen days' journey toward the West 
there was a very broad lake, and near it several great 
towns ; that the houses were three and four stories high, 
and the people were well dressed and provided with an, 



246 THE CONQUEST OF XEW MEXICO. 

abnndance of provisions. He offered to conduct them 
tlntlier, but Espejo declined turning from his march until 
he had accomplished the object for which he had set out — 
the relief of the friars. The temperature of this province 
"was mild and pleasant, and the soil very fertile. It 
abounded in wild beasts and fowls, yielded the precious 
metals in abundance, and produced many other desirable 
articles. 

The Spaniards continued their march toward the North, 
along the bank of the great river, for the space of fifteen 
daysi traveling through a country covered with pine forests, 
bearing fruit like those of Castile. 5 In all this distance 
they saw no inhabitants. At the end of this time, and 
after having marched, as they supposed, some eighty 
leagues, they arri\'ed at a small village of poor cottages 
covered with straw, and containing but few inhabitants. 
Among this people the}' found a large number of well- 
dressed deer-skins, with a great quantity of excellent 
white salt. Here they tarried two days, and were well 
entertained ; and when they resumed the marcli the 
Indians accompanied them the distance of twelve leagues, 
and until they arrived at other large towns, and within 
what the Spaniards called New Mexico.e Here, all along 
the banks of the river, there grew forests of poplar; and 
walnut trees, and vines like those of Castile ; the timber 
hi some places being as much as four leagues broad. 

5 The piiion nut. 

(3 Part of the province of Humanos was undoubtedly -within the 
.present limits ot New Mexico. 

7 The cotton-wood, which is still found in the valley of the De2 
Koi'tc. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 24iT 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



ESPEJO MARCHES UP THE VALLEY OF THE EIO DEL NOltTE ; 
SOME ACOUNT OF THE PROVINCES HE PASSED THROUGH. 

Having traveled two days through the pophir and 
wahiut groves, Espejo came to ten towns situated upon 
both hanks of the Eio del Norte, and others some dis- 
tance from the river, i They were all populous, and the 
Spaniards estimated the Indians they saw at ten thousand. 
The houses were four stories high, well built, and with 
good lodgings overhead, and in .most of them provisions 
were stored away for the winter season.. The inhabit- 
ants dressed in deer-skins and cotton, and the garments 
of both the men and women were made after the manner 
of those of Mexico. Tliey wore boots and shoes with 
soles of " neats-leather, " a circumstance which appears 
to have given much surprise to the Spaniards, as they 
liad seen nothing of the kind before in any part of the 
country. The women kept their hair well dressed and 
combed, and went with their heads uncovered. 



1 The towns of this province were situated South of Albuquerque, 
and it is probable that Isleta and'Los Lentes were of the number. 



248 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO, 

The towns were governed by caciques in the same 
ananner as those of Mexico ; whose commands were exe- 
cuted by an officer called a sergeant, who went through 
the lown crying in a loud voice the will of the cacique, 
and ordering the same to be put in execution. The 
inhabitants gave the Spaniards a friendly reception and 
furnished them with an abundance of provisions, among 
which were hens of the country. Many idols, which the 
Indians worshipped, were found in this province ; and in 
every house an oratory was erected for the devil, where 
he was said to preside, and to which food was carried for 
liim to eat. In various places the Indians had erected 
chapels dedicated to the devil, in which he was said to 
recreate and rest himself when he traveled through the 
country, from one town to another. These chapels were 
all handsomely trimmed and painted. They represented, 
by pictures, the sun, moon and stars as principal objects 
of their worship. 

On their arable lands, of which there was a great 
extent in the province, the Indians erected on one side a 
small shed standing upon four studs, under which the 
laborers ate their food, and recUned during the heat oi 
the day. They were a laborious people, and continually 
Occupied themselves in some useful employment. The 
iields nearest the banks of the Del Norte were well cul- 
tivated. Their arms were strong bows, and arrov/s- 
headed with sharp-pointed stones that would pierce 
through a coat of mail, and Tnaccmas, or clubs, half a 
yard in length and armed with sharp flints, which they 
wielded with great dexterity, and with which they could 
cut a man's body in two at a single blow. They used a 
shield made of untanned bull-hide. The country, excej^t 
the valley of the river, was mountainous and, covered. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. . 249 ■ 

with pine trees. "When the Indians first saw the horses 
of the Spaniards they were no less astonislied than the 
Mexicans, and almost worshipped them as superior beings. 
They entertained them in their best honses, and entreated 
them to eat of their choicest provisions. Some of the 
tribes were more advanced than others, and dwelt in 
better habitations and wore more comfortable clothing. 
A chief of one of the provinces gave Espejo four thousand 
bolls of cotton. 

The Spaniards remained four days among these people, 
when they resumed the march. Continuing up the bank 
of the Del Norte, in a few leagues they entered the 
Teguas nation, which contained fourteen towns. Here 
they learned that the two friars with the Indian boy and 
the Mexican, whom they Avere in search of, had been 
slain in a town of this province called Puara. When 
the inhabitants of this town and their neighbors heard. 
of the approach of the Spaniards, they became greatly 
alarmed, and fearing they came to revenge the death of 
the friars, deserted their houses and fled into the moun- 
tains for safety. Espejo used every efiTort to induce thenx 
to descend and re-occupy their houses, but without 
success, as they feared to place themselves in his power. 
He found a great quantity of provisions and a large 
number of the hens of the country in Puara, besides many 
sorts of metals, some of which appeared valuable. They 
could not determine the number of inhabitants in the 
province. Here were found the bodies of the two friars, 
to which they gave Christian burial.2 

Having now accomplished the object of the expedition, 
the Spaniards held a consultation as to the course they 

2 This must be an error, as the body of Lopez was buried by Rui2^. 
while that of the latter was thrown into the river,. 



250 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

should pursue ; -whether to return immediately to New 
Biscay, or continue theii' explorations. Various opinions 
were held among- the ofhcers and men. Espejo had 
understood that some distance from thence, in the eastern 
(western) part of the province, there w;ere great and rich 
towns, and as they were so far advanced on their way, he 
thought it advisable to continue the march until they 
should reach them, and thus be enabled, as eye-wit- 
nesses, to give a correct account of the country upon 
then* return. In this opinion he was supported by friar 
Bernardine Beltram and many of the soldiers, which 
determined him to prosecute their explorations further. 

It was decided that the command should remain at 
that place, while Espejo explored some of the surround- 
ing provinces, which determination he proceeded to put 
into immediate execution. He set out with two men, and 
after traveling toward the West for two days he arrived 
in a province which contained eleven towns ; they were 
all very populous, and were estmiated to contain forty 
thousand inhabitants. It bordered on that of Cibola, and 
was very fertile, producing an abundance of all the 
necessaries of life. The country was covered with a great 
number of cattle, with the hides of which, and with cotton, 
they made their clothing, imitating in style the dress of 
their next neighbors. They saw signs of ricli mines of 
the precious metals, and also found considerable quantities 
in the houses. The inhabitants worshipped idols. They 
gave the Spaniards a friendly welcome, and furnished 
them with provisions. Espejo and his companions having 
obtained some knowledge of the country and the people, 
returned to camp and related an account of their explO' 
jrations to their com]-ianions. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 251 

■ Espejo, hearing of another province some five leagues 
further up the river, called Los Queros (Queres), imme- 
diately marched thither from Puara. When they arrived 
within a league of the first town a large number of Indians 
came forth to meet them, who saluted them with great 
friendship, and wanted them to enter their villages. They 
escorted them to their houses, where they were well 
entertained. This province contained five towns, and the 
population was estimated at fourteen thousand souls, all 
of whom worshipped idols, in the manner of their neigh- 
bors. They found in one of the towns " certain shadows " 
and canopies similar to those said to have been brought 
from China, in those days, and on which were painted 
the sun, moon and stars, besides other curious things. 
Here they took the altitude of the north star, and found 
themselves in latitude 38 degrees North.s 

Leaving the province of Los Queros, they continued 
their march in the same Northerly course, and in the 
distance of fourteen leagues they arrived in the province 
of Cunames. Here they found five towns, the largest of 
which was called Cia.4 This was an extensive town, and 
contained eight market places, and the houses were 
better built than any others they had seen in the country, 
being plastered and painted many colors. The province 
was populous, and they estimated the people they saw at 
twenty thousand. The Indians received them in a friendly 

3 An error, for they were then South of Santa Fe, which is in 35 
degrees 41 minutes North. 

i This pueblo, sometimes called Zia or Silla, is situated in the county 
of Santa Ana, near the Jemez river, a few miles from where it empties 
into the Del Norte. At this time it contains not more than three or 
four hundred inhabitants, and in all essential particulars differs in no 
manner from the other pueblos of the present day. It is built in the 
valley of the river. 



252 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

manner, and besides furnishing tliem with provisionSj, 
made them presents of many curious mantles. They 
were more advanced in civilization, and had a lietter 
form of government, than any province Espejo had pre- 
viously \'isited. They exhibited to the Spaniards some 
of the precious metals, and pointed out the mountain, not 
far off, where they were obtained. 

While in tliis province the Spaniards heard of another 
in a North-west direction, whither they determined 
to go. Resuming their march they traveled about 
five leagues, when they came to a new province, the 
inhabitants of which were called Amies. It contained 
seven large towns, with an estimated population of thirty 
thousand. One of them, situated behind a mountain, is 
represented as Ijeing much larger and more beautiful 
than the others ; but the Spaniards did not visit it, fear- 
ing to separate the command lest some accident might 
befall them. These people resembled the inhabitants of 
the pro\'ince of Cunames, being as well provided with 
the necessaries of life, and having as good government. 

Continuing the march toward the West, in a distance 
of about fifteen leagues, they arrived at a large town 
called Acoma. It was situated upon the top of a rock 
near fifty paces high, and contained a population of about 
five thousand souls. The ascent to it was up a pair of 
stairs cut in the solid rock, and water was kept in a 
cistern hewn in the summit of the same rock. Upon the 
approach of the Spaniards the principal men of the place 
went forth to meet and welcome them, bringing with 
them, as presents, many mantles of chamois-skins, very 
well dressed, and an abundance of provisions. Their 
corn-fields were situated two leagues from the town, and 
were watered by a small river that flowed near by, along 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 253 

'the banks of wliicli were growing great beds of roses 
similar to those of Castile. In the vicinity of Acoma 
were several mountains, said to abound in metals, but as 
•they were inhabited by a numerous and warlike people, 
the S]3aniards did not visit them. They remained in this 
town three days, and during the time, the inhabitants 
performed a solemn dance before them. They came 
•forth dressed in good apparel, and joined many interest- 
•ing sports with their exercises, which afforded great 
-amusement to the Christians. 

Leaving Acoma on the fourth day after their arrival, 
they continued their march toward the West, and at the 
distance of twenty-four leagues they came to the province 
of Zuili, which the Spaniards called Cibola. It was very 
populous. This is the same province tliat Francisco 
Vasquez de Coronado visited forty years before, and 
where he erected many crosses and other tokens of 
Christianity, which yet remained standing. Tiiey found 
the Christian Indians who had remained behind when 
Coronado returned to New Spain, still living, named 
Andrev/ de Culiacan, Gaspar de ]\Iexico, and Antonio de 
Guadalajara. They had been so long among these people, 
that they had almost forgotten their mother tongue, but 
■spoke the language of Cibola with great fluency; and it 
was with some difficulty the Spaniards were able to 
converse with them. They informed Espejo that several 
days' journey h'om thence was a great lake, upon 
the banks of vdiich stood many large and populous 
towns ; that the country abounded in precious metals, 
• and as evidence of it he was told that the inhabitants 
wore golden ear'-rings and bracelets; that Coronado knew 
■ of this province and attempted to reach it, but after 
'marching in that direction for twelve days, he was obliged 



254 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

to tarn back for want of water, and never made a seconci 
attempt.6 

ti This lake Avas most probably Agua Negra, or Black Water, situate 
in the Nabajo country, and less than a clay's march from Fort Defiance, 
as I am not aware of any other lake in that part of the country. It 
lies to the North-west of Zufii instead ot West, a mistake of direction 
tery easy for Espejo to make in an unknown region. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 255 



GHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE SPANIARDS VISIT SEVERAL NEW PROVINCES AND THEN 
RETURN TO NEW BISCAY. 

■ When Espejo lieard of the country on the borders of 
the great lake which promised such a rich harvest of the 
precious metals, he was very desirous of going thither, 
and proposed the same to his officers and men. Some of 
them were vv'illing to accompany him but the majority, 
among whom was the friar, were opposed to a further 
advance into the interior, and advocated an immediate 
return to New Biscay. But iie was not to be thwarted 
in his plans. He found nine soldiers who were willing: 
to follow his fortunes, with whom he determined to 
prosecute his adventures ; while the remainder of tlie 
Spaniards decided to return home. Having made the 
necessary preparations and obtained some information of 
the country he started from Cibola toward the unexplored 
West. 

Let us take leave of the soldiers for the present, and 
follow the march ^of Espejo and his companions. In the 
distance of twenty-eight leagues they entered a large and 
|)opulous province, which was estimated to contain fiftv 



256 THE CONQUEST OF KEVv' MEXICO. 

thousand inhabitants.! The Indians were alarmed when 
■ they heard of the approach of the Spaniards, and immedi- 
ately dispatched a messenger to warn them not to come 
nearer their towns imder penalty of death. Espejo 
assnred him that his coming was for a peaceful purpose 
and that no harm would be done to his people. To 
prove his friendly intention he gave him several presents 
to carry back to be distributed among the Indians. 
He made such a favorable report of the strangers 
and the presents had so much influence in quieting 
their fears, that the Indians gave permission to 
Espejo to enter their tovv-ns. Upon being informed of 
this decision the Spaniards resumed their march. "When 
they arrived within a league of the first town they met 
about two thousand Indians, who had come out to bid 
them vrelcome,. bearing them loads of provisions as (Evi- 
dence of their good- will. In return the captain presented 
them a few articles of small value which greatly pleased 
them, and which they esteemed more precious than pure 
gold. As they drew nearej* the town the caciques, with 
a multitude of other Indians, came out to meet them. 
They manifested great pleasure at the visit of the Christ- 
ians, in testimony of which they cast corn-meal on the 
OTOund nnder their horses' feet. 

Thus surrounded, and escorted by a numerous throng 
of Indians, and amid the liveliest expressions of gladness, 
the Spaniards entered the town wliere they were well 
lodged and entertained. Espejo, not to be excelled in 
generosity, again distributed among them presents of 
hats, glass beads and other articles. The cacique sent 
word to the whole province of the arrival of the strangers, 
■;whom he represented as a corteous people, for which 
i 1 This'vvas, uncloobteclly, the proviiice of Mo.qui. 



TKB- CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 257 

'• i-eason lie had not offered tliem liarni. Upon the receipt 
of this information the Indians from all parts of the 
country came in to pa}^ their respects and welcome them 
to the province. They came loaded with presents wliicli 
they bestowed upon the Spaniards, and also invited them 
to visit them in their towns and to make merry. Notwith- 
standing this apparent display of friendship on the part 
of the natives, Espejo feared that treachery was lurking 
at the bottom- of it ; and to be better prepared in case of 
necessity, he wanted some place of defence to rally upon. 
As it would not do to let the Indians suspect his object 
he was obliged to accomplish his wishes by a little 
strategy. He represented to the cacique that his horses 
were very fierce animals and would kill his people in case 
they should become enraged, and that it was necessai7/ 
he should have some enclosure to confine them in to 
prevent any accident. The cacique, believing this to l^e 
true, assembled a large number of Indians, who in a short 
time constructed a rude fort of lime and stone, being such 
an enclosure as the Spaniards would stand in need of in 
case the Indians should become hostile. This town bore 
the name of Zaguato. 

Having remained several days in this town, receivina 
the hospitalities of the Indians, Espejo made preparations 
to continue his march Westward. Here he received 
additional information of the great lake he was in search 
of, which agreed with what he had already heard. He 
left behind at this place two Spaniards and the Tubiaii 
Indians who had accompanied him, with orders for them 
to return to Zuili with his carriages, while he continued his 
journey with but four companions. When the Indians 
learned that he was about to leave them, they Ijrouglit him 
^numerous presents in token of their friendshi]-), amonsr 
17 



258 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

which were "forty thousand" mantles of cotton, both white 
and colored, a large number of hard towels with tassels at 
the corners, and some metals which appeared to contaia 
much silver. 

Before resuming the march Espejo obtained the services 
of reliable guides, well acquainted with the country. He 
took a course due West, and after traveling forty-live 
leagues in that direction he reached the mines near the 
lake. They were situated in a mountain which could be 
ascended witliout difficulty. The vein was very broad-, 
and he took therefrom, with his ov/n liands, several 
specimens of rich metals which contained great quantities 
of silver. Near the mines were situated several towns 
upon the mountains, inhabited by a race of Indians called 
Tubians. The inhabitants came forth to meet him, upon 
iiis approach, carrying crosses upon their heads and other 
tokens of peace. In this province there w^ere two con- 
siderable rivers, upon tlie banlcs of which were found 
growing many vines bearing excellent grapes, and large 
groves of walnut trees. There were also hares like those 
of Castile, ^.'he Indians explained to Espejo, by means 
of drawings, that behind the mountains there was a great 
rivera that ran toward the North-sea. It was about eight 
leagues broad, and on both sides were situated many 
towns of such size that those in which they dwelt were 
but small hamlets in comparison. 

Having obtained this information Espejo immediately 
took up the march for Zuni, where he arrived without 
accident or opposition from the Indians. He found the 
remainder of the Spaniards still at this place, and also 
tliose whom he had sent back from Zaguato. In his 

2 This river must have been the Great Colorado of the West, but its 
sze is overestiniatedv 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 259 

absence the inhabitants had treated them with great 
kindness and furnished them with an abundance of every- 
thing necessary to supply their wants. They were pleased 
at his return, and a large number went forth to meet him 
and welcome him back to the village. 

The Spaniards now made preparations to leave Zuni, 
the friar and the greater part of the soldiers to return to 
New Biscay, and the captain to continue his explorations 
higher up the river Del Norte. The Indians furnished 
them with provisions for the march and expressed great 
regret at their departm^e. They invited them to return 
to their province and bring others with them, 'promising 
to supply as many as might come with corn, for which 
purpose they planted a greater quantity that year than ' 
usual. 

The soldiers and the friar having marched on their 
return to New Biscay, Espejo and companions set out on 
their contemplated expedition to the North-east. After 
marching some sixty leagues toward the Queres nation, 
and thence twelve leagues more to the East, they entered 
the province of the Tubians,3 otherwise called Hubates. • 
Tlie Indians welcomed them as friends and supplied them 
v/ith provisions. Here they were informed of rich mines 
of the precious metals, some of which they visited. The 
province was estimated to contain twenty-five thousand 
inhabitants, who were clothed in colored mantles of cotton 
and chamois-skins, well-dressed. Their houses were four 
and five stories high. The country was mountainous, 
covered with pine-trees and filled with mines. Informa- 
tion was received of another province about a day's 
journey distant, inhabited by a people called Tanos, and 
which contained a population of some forty thousand. 

3 Two provinces appear to have been called by the same name. 



260 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Espejo marched tliitlier, but wlien he urrived in the 
province the Indians wonld neither furnish him M'ith 
provisions nor permit him to enter their towns. 

This was the Hmit of liis explorations. Being now a 
•great distance from Ne^v Spain, his party few in number 
and in the midst of numerous and powerful nations of 
Indians, he resolved to return to Mexico. The necessary 
preparations were quickly made, and in the beginning of 
July, 1584, they took up the Hue of march homeward. 
One of the Indians who accompanied them acted as guide 
and conducted them by a route to the Eastward of the 
Del Norte* They passed down a river called Bio cle las 
Vacas,i or the river of Oxen, and was so named because 
of the great number of buffaloes that fed upon its banks. 
They traveled down this river the distance of one hundred, 
and twenty leagues, all the way passing through great 
herds of buffaloes. Thence they struck across to the river 
Conchos by which they had entered the country, M'hence 
they continued on to the valley of Saint Bartholomew, 
their starting point. The friar and the soldiers had 
arrived there before them and gone to the town of Guar- 
diana, whither Espejo and his companions followed. Here 
he remained some time and WTote an account of hi? 
expedition for the Conde de Corrunna, who forwarded 
the same to the king of Spain and the lords of the council 
of the Indians. 

Sometime after the return of Espejo one Humana 
entered the country to make explorations, and penetrated 
some distance into the interior, but I ha^•e not been able 
to obtain any information of his operations. He was 
hunting gold in the southern part of the territory, and on 
'his return passed near the town of Quivira. On the march 

■^ The river Pecos, and the same " Cow River " that Vaca describes 



T?3PiE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 2G1 

he had a difficulty with oo.e of his officers, a Portuguese 
named Leiva, whom he caused to, be executed. This act 
so aLarmed one of his companions, a Mexican Indian 
named Josefe, that he made his escape to the pueblo of 
Picoris, where he was afterward found, by Onate. Soon 
after this IIum,ana and nearly all his companions were 
put to death by the Indians. They had halted to rest 
about three days' travel from Quivira, when the Indians 
set fire to the grass, and the smoke and flames either suifo-. 
cated, or burnt them to death, or rendered them helpless, 
and thus they became easy victims to the savages. Of 
the whole number only two escaped, one a Spaniard, 
named Alonzo Sanches, and the other a mulatto girl who 
was badly burnt. Sanches remained with the Indians 
and was much respected and feared by them, and because 
of his great bravery was made a captain. No reliable 
information was received of him afterward, though the 
Indians said he was alive a few years before 1629. The 
mulatto gijL'l was living when Ohate entered the country.. 



262 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO^ 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



JUAN DE ONATE ENTERS NEW MEXICO WITH A PAETY 01' 
COLONISTS. 

EsPEJO and his companions, npon their return to New 
Spain, gave a most flattering account of the country they 
had passed through, of the populous towns, fertile valleys, 
aljundance of provisions to be obtained, and the rich 
mines of the precious metals to be found in the mountains. 
This information rekindled the avarice of the Spaniards 
()f IMexico, and the \dceroy determined to take permanent 
possession of, and colonize, the country, i 

1 1 have translated the following interesting account which Espejo 
gave of New Mexico from De Larenaudiure's History of Mexico, viz : 

" The people were somewhat advanced toward civilizationj with 
many manners and customs similar to those of the Aztecs, Many of 
the men and women wore long gowns of cotton, tastefully painted, 
and some had coats of cloth colored with blue and white, similar to 
the manner of the Chinese. They were adorned with feathers of 
different colors. One of the chiefs gave him four thousand bolls of 
cotton. One of the tribes, called Jumanes, painted the face, arms and 
legs in ridiculous figures. Their arms were great bows, with arrows 
terminated with sharp-pointed stones, very hard, and wooden swords 
armed on both sides with sharp-cutting stones, similar to the swords of 
the Aztecs, The latter they use with great dexterity, and could cut a 
man's body in two at a single blow. Their shields were covered with 
untanned bull-hide. Some of the nations lived in houses of stone four 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 2t5S 

The person who first moved in the matter of the colo- 
nization of New Mexico was Don Juan de Oiiate, a native 
of Zacatecas, and a gentleman of influence and import- 
ance in his da J. He conceived the idea of planting- 
Spanish colonies in the country, and in order to obtain 
permission to do so, presented a petition to the viceroy, 
Don Louis de Velasco, to that effect, about the close of 
the sixteenth centmy^s He pledged himself to introduce 

stories high, and walls very thiciv to keep out the cold of winter. 
Others slept under tents during the heat of summer, or lived in them 
all the j'^ear. There were foand villages where luxury and comforts 
were noted. The houses were whitewashed and the walls covered 
with pictures. The inhabitants used rich mantles with similar pictures, 
and subsisted on good flesh and corn-bread. Other tribes were some- 
what more savage : they covered themselves with skins of animals, 
the product of the chase, and the fiesh of the mountain bull was their 
principal food. Those nearest to the banks of the Del ISTorte, whose 
fields appeared well cultivated, obeyed chiefs whose orders were an- 
nounced by public criers. In the pueblos oi all the Indians were seen 
a multitude of idols, and in each house there was a chapel dedicated 
to- the genius of mischief. They represented, by means of pictures, the 
Bun, moon and stars as principal objects of their worship. When they 
saw the Spanish horses for the first time they were no less astonished 
than the Mexicans, and were on the point of worshipping them as 
superior beings. They subsisted them in their most beautiful houses, 
and entreated them to accept the best they had. There were found in 
^that great region abundant harvests of corn, flax similar to that of 
Europe, vines loaded with grapes, and beautiful forests filled with 
bulTaloes, deer, stags, and every species of game." 

2 The date of this petition is given as the 21st of (September, 159r>, 
which is most likely an error, as the records state that he left IMexico, 
for New Mexico, ou his expedition of colonization, in the year 1591. 
There is a good deal of discrepance among the authorities as to the 
time Oiiate arriffed in New Mexico. Fadre Frejes, in his history of 
fne conquest of New Mexico, published in Mexico, in 1830, states that 
Oiiate arrived there in 1595 ; Mariana says that he set out from 
Mexico in 1598 ; while De Larenaudiere, in his History of Mexico, 
published at Barcelona in 184-t, states that he took possession of the 
•oountry the last year of the sixteenth century— 1599. 



264" THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

two hundred soldiers, horses, cattle, merchandise, and; 
agricultural implements. As a remuneration for his 
services he demanded large grants of land ; that his 

The following is a copy of the original decree of the king of Spain, 
in favor of Onate : 

" Don Felipe, by the Grace of God, King ot Castile, of Arragon, of 
the Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Portugal, of Granada, of Toleda, of Va- 
lencia, of Galecia, Mayoria, Sevilla, of Yerdina, Cordova, Coreega, 
Mnrrisa, Jaen, Algarbes, of Algesira, Gibraltar, Canary Islands, East 
and West Indies, Islands, and Tierra Firma of the Ocean, Archduque 
of Austria, Duque of Borgora ffnd Milan, Count of Traspur, Flanders, 
and Tirol, of Barcelona, Lord of Viscaya and Molisa, &c., &c. : 

" Whereas the ViceRoy, Don Louis of Velasco, by virtue of a decree 
nf the King my Lord — may he live in Glory — entered into an agreement 
and capitulation with Don Juan de Oiiate, relative to the discovery, 
pacification and settlement of the provinces of Nev/ Mexico, which is 
in New Spain, and among other things he granted to him what is con- 
tained in one of the chapters of instructions of new discoveries and 
settlements of the Indias, which is as follows : ' To those who bind 
tliemselves to form said settlements, and shall have done the same, and 
shall have complied with the agreement, in honor to their own persons 
and their descendants and of them as first settlers, laudable memory 
may remain, wc make them and their legitimate descendants Ilijos- 
dalgos of the lands owned by them, in order that in the settlement 
established by them, and in any other part of the Indies they may be 
Hijosdalgos and persons of noble lineage and Lord paramount, and 
as such they shall be known, held and considered, and enjoy all the 
honors and pre-eminences, and may do" all things that noblemen and 
gentlemen of the Kingdom of Castile can do, according to the privi- 
leges, laws, and customs of Spain, should or ought to do and enjoy.' ' 
And in behalf of the said Don Juan de Oisate, I have been requested to 
grant him the grace to command him to approve, notwithstanding the 
moderation which the Duque of Monterey used relative thereto, and 
published by him, my Council of the Indies, I have thought proper 
that the said prerogatives should be understood to continue during the 
time occupied in said conquest, for five years, and if Ibe said conquer- 
ors should terminate the conquest thereof before the expiration of the 
five years, they, their sons and descendants shall enjoy the said prero- 
gatives as herein set forth. And I do hereby command that all who 
may have gone and shall go on the said conquest, pacification, and 
settlement, .according to, aud in conformity with, the provisions of. the 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 265 . 

iixmily should be ennobled ; the loan of a. consider able sum. 
of money to defray the expenses ; a fat salary, and to be 
furnished with arms and ammunition. He also asked, 
permission to reduce the natives to a state of obedience, 

said chapter, and shall continue in the conquest for five years ; and 
those who shall prosecute the same "who should die before the expi- 
ration of the five years, there shall be reserved and secured unto their 
sous and descendants all the pre-eminences and prerogatives, exemp- 
tions and liberties as aforesaid in conformity to, and as is granted and 
conferred upon them in the said chapter, entirely and completely, 
failing in nothing, and charge the Infantes, Prelates, Duques, Marquises, 
Counts, Nobles, Subjects and Priors of royal orders. Prefects, Alcaldes 
of the Castiles, houses surrounded with a moat, and country houses 
(cases faeite y lianas), and those of my Councils, Presidents, Judges, 
Alcaldes, High Constables of my household and court, and chancery to 
my Vice Roys and Governoi's, and to all of my authorities and judees, 
as v^ell those of m^ Kingdom and Seignories as those of the Indies and 
Tierra Firma of the Ocean, and other persons of whatever condition 
or quality to observe and comply, and to- have obeyed and executed 
this my franchise aud grace, confirmed to the aforesaid, without 
restricting or increasing, nor consent to any infraction of the contents 
of this my determination, which I desire and it is my will that it shall 
have the force of law as though it had been decreed and promulgated 
iu Court, and it be published in all proper parls and places. 

" Given at San Lorenzo, on the 8th day of July, 1G02. 

(Signed) " I the King. 

" Laguna, Armenteros, Doc. Eugenio de Salazar, Benabente de 
Venavides — Louis de Saleedo. By order of the King, my Lord. Juan 
de Ybarra. Recorded, Gabriel db Ochoa, Chancellor, Sebastian de la 
Vega, * 

" ACT CF AUDIENCE. 

" In the city of Mexico, June 20, IGOt, the President and Judge of 
the Royal Audience of New Spain being present at the session, also the 
Mariscal de Campo, Vicente the Saldivan, presented the Royal decree 
governing to the opposite party, and asked that it be complied with ; 
and being seen by the said Audience they obeyed the same with all 
reverence and respects, and replied that it should be observed and 
complied with, and executed in all its parts as His Majesty com- 
manded ; and thus it was recorded as their act, and they approved the 
same by placing their rubric thereto in my presence; 

CSigned) " Ceistoval Orosio." 



266 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

wliicli meant, in its practical effect, their reduction to a 
state of slavery, and stipulated that the government 
should supply the colony with " six priests, a full comple- 
ment of books, ornaments, and church accoutrements." 

The viceroy granted the petition of Onate, with the 
exception of some of his most extravagant demands ; and 
the agreement entered into between them stipulated for 
" the discovery, pacification and settlement of tlie pro- 
vinces of New Mexico, wliich is in New Spain." Among 
other things there were granted to them tlie following 
privileges contained in one of the " chapters of instruc- 
tions of new discoveries and settlement of the Indias ;" 
which gave " To those who bind themselves to form said 
new settlements, and shall have done the same, and shall 
have complied with their agreement, inlionor of their 
own persons and their descendants, and of them as first 
settlers, laudable memory may remain, we make them 
and their legitimate descendants hijosdalgos of the lands 
owned by them, in order that in the settlement established 
l3y them, and in any other part of the Indias, they may 
be hijosdalgos and persons of noble lineage, and lord 
paramount, and as such they shall be known, held and 
considered, and enjoy all the honors and pre-eminences, 
and may do all things that noblemen and gentlemen of 
the kingdoms of Castile can do, according to the privi- 
leges, laws and customs of Spain, should or ought to do 
and enjoy." The time limited for the conquest and 
pacification of the country was five years ; and if Onate 
should die during that period, and before the conquest 
should be completed, his sons were empowered to carry 
on and complete the same, with like privileges and pre- 
rogatives as their ancestor. This agreement between 
•Onate and the viceroy was confirmed and approved l3y 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 267 

Don Felipe the Third, king of Spain, at San Lorenzo on 
the 8th of July, 1602, but Onate had entered upon the 
labor of conquest and colonization some years before. 

As soon as the viceroy had granted the petition of 
Oiiate, and given him the necessary authority to organ- 
ize the expedition, he made immediate preparations to 
carry it into execution. He exhibited great acti\dty in 
raising troops, inducing settlers to embark in the enter- 
prise, and procuring a supply of provisions. He had 
numerous obstacles to encounter in fitting out the expe- 
dition, which those who were opposed to it increased in 
every possible manner. From this cause there was a 
delay of three months in marching, and in the meantime 
the men became much dissatisfied. ]\Iore than two hun- 
dred retm-ned home, many of whom were married and 
intended accompanying the expedition with their families. 
This delay also caused- great loss to Onate, who defrayed 
nearly the whole expense. But in spite of every obstacle 
and opposition he completed his arrangements and took 
up the line of march from the city of ]\Iexico sometime 
in the year 1591. His force consisted of upward of seven 
hundred soldiers, including the flower of the Chichimeca 
troops, and he was accompanied by one hundred and 
thirty married men, with their wives and children, who 
went into the country as permanent settlers. Among 
this number were several persons of note. Although the 
records are silent upon the subject, we may supp(3se that 
he took with him a sufficient number of domestic animals 
to commence new settlements. He was also accompanied 
by ten Franciscan friars, said to have been men of spirit 
and learning, who were named, Alonzo Martinez, commis- 
saiy of the troops, Francisco de San Miguel, Francisco de 
Zamora, Juan de Kosas, Alonzo de Lugo, Andres Corchado, 



2^68 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXKOi 

Juan Claros, and Cristoval Salazar, ministers ; and Juant 
de San Buenaventura and Pedro de Vergara, secular 
friars. 

Fairly en route, Ofiate directed his march toward the 
North, through the interior of tlie country, until he struck 
the Del Noi-te river, which he reached without any 
serious difficulty. He followed up the bank of this 
stream, passing numerous Indian towns belonging to 
different provinces, untft he arrived at the vaUey inhab- 
ited by the Teguas nation, situated on the borders of said 
stream in about latitude 37 degrees North.4 Continuing 
up the river a few leagues further, he established liis 
camp at an advantageous location between the rivers Del 
Norte and the Cliama. He entered New Mexico with a 
force of four hundred men, including the one hundred 
and thirty who brought their wives and families with 
them ; the others having either deserted on the march, or 
from other causes failed to reach their destination. The 
reason given in the old records for fixing upon this point 
for the commencement of the new settlement is because 
it was "an intermediate point, and on the West is Cali- 
fornia distant two hundred leagues, as has been seen, 
and to Florida on the East three hundred leagues by an 
air line, not regarding the distance traveled by Orantes, 
Cabeza de Vaca, nor Hernando de Soto, for they were 
all ■ lost, Wcindering back and forth, and the distance 
should be measured in a direct line, and on the North to 
the arm of the sea which is called San Lorenzo, where 
the embarcation for Spain is easy, for it will be seen 
hereafter that this river has its confluence m the Labrador 

4 This is au error in the reckoning, as the Teguap nation inhabited a 
region of country South of Santa Fe, and in latitude about 35 degrees. 
30 minutes North. 



'THE COl^QtffiSt' OF NEW MEXICO. 269 

'tbiitltry, the frontier of Terranova, at wliich place they 
come every year to fisli for cod/'s 

The Indians received the Spaniards as friends, and 
manifested their good-will by supplying them with pro- 
visions and clothing, assisting them in the erection of 
their houses, and immediately declaring themselves vassals 
of the king of Spain. They found the climate cool and 
healthful, somewhat similar to the elevated regions of 
Spain, the land fertile, and watered by beautiful and 
clear streams. The forests and mountains abounded 
with game of many kinds, and the rivers and streams 
were swarming with fish. The surj'ounding provinces 
were inhabited by a peaceable and amiable people, many 
of whom lived to be an hundred years old. 

Upon their first arrival the Spaniards encountered the 
difficulties that always beset settlers of a new country, 
and they were necessarily obliged. to endure many hard- 
ships. The soldiers soon became dissatisfied with the 
life they were obliged to lead, and deserted their officere 
and returned home. Upon their arrival in lilexico they 
gave the most discouraging account of the condition of 
things, representing the country as barren and unfit for 
'the residence of man. They disparaged it in every 
possible way, which had the effect of bringing the new 
-settlement into bad repute. 

The colonists inmiediately ^commenced to build houses 
•and organize a settlement, in which labors the Indians 
gave them assistance. As soon as they had prepared a 
•shelter for themselves and families, they turned their 
attention to the cultivation of the soil, as the best and 
•surest means of living. They located land, opened farms, 

5 This extract is given fbr the purpose of showing the crude idea the 
'Spaniards of that day had of the geogi'aphy of the contiueat. 



270 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

planted corn, and all kinds of vegetables, and sowed 
wheat and other grains; and soon the valleys were 
blooming under the hand of indnstrj, and the colonists 
had the satisfaction of witnessing the steady growth of 
an abnndance of all the necessaries of life. Until the 
harvest yielded its bonntifnl supply, the wood, the monn- 
tains, and streams furnished a sufficiency of flesh and fis]i 
to satisfy their immediate wants. The country was well 
adapted to grazing purposes, and, as soon as practicable, 
they turned their attention to this branch of liusbandry, 
and in a few years numerous flocks of sheep and herds of 
cattle were seen pasturing upon the neighboring moun- 
tains and plains. Plenty smiled on every hand, and 
peace between the Christians and natives seemed ce- 
mented by permanent good-will betweea the parties. 

The accounts given of the Indians, as they were found 
by Ouate and his followers, agree substantially with those 
received from his predecessors. They were settled in vil- 
lages of large houses which contained many rooms, and 
were several stories high ; they dressed in mantles of cotton, 
v.'hich was cultivated by them to a considerable extent, 
and in buffalo-robes and wolf-skins. The mantles were 
painted. They also wore mantles of feathers made from 
the plumage of the wild turkey, with which the country 
abounded. The dress of the men and women was similar ; 
and all wore moccasins. They cultivated corn, beans, 
pumpldns, and herbs, of which they laid in a supply for 
the year before cold weather commenced ; and they also 
ate bears, deer, rabbits, wild turkeys, partridges, and 
quails, wliich they obtained by the chase. They caught 
trout, perch, and catfish in the streams, of which the 
latter in particular abounded in the Rio del Norte. The 
Indians were all sober, and drank no other beverage than 
water. 



THE CONQUEST GF KEW MEXICO. 271 



CHAPTER XXXV, 



OXATE VISITS QUIVIEA, AND "WHAT TOOK PLACE THEEE \ 
FlilAli SALilEEOX. 

As a leading o1 »ject of the Spaniards in entering New 
Mexico was to search for the precious metals, they soon 
turned their attention in that direction and neglected, in 
a measure, the pursuits of agriculture. In their search 
for mines they were very successful, and found deposits 
of gold and silver, of greater or less richness, in various 
locahties ; as in the mountains near Socorro, Puara, 
Tunque, in the Puerto, in the Sienega, in San Marcos, 
Galisteo, Pozos and Picoris, and also in the Jemez moun- 
tains. Granite was found near Chama. Besides the 
precious metals, there were discovered copper, lead, 
magnets, copperas, alum, sulphur and cliarcliihuites. The 
latter were sought after principally by the Indians and 
used by them as ornaments, and by whom they were 
valued above all other earthly things. The Spanish 
colonists -of that day are described by some as men of 
great idleness, and enemies to all kinds of labor ; and one 
old chronicler remarks, that although theu* desu'e for 
gold was such that they would enter into the infernal 



272 ■ THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

regions to ■ obtain it, and the country abounded in valu- 
able mines, they had not the energy necessary to work 
•them; and another goes so far as to say that, "if they 
have a good crop of tobacco to smoke they are weh 
contented, and want no other riches." 

This is probably an overdrawn picture. It is quite 
likely that the want of cg,pital, and the absence of proper 
machinery were greater drawbacks to the worldng of the 
mines than lack of energy in the colonists, for the Span- 
ish settler, in all parts of the world, has ever been noted 
for his untiring industry in his search for the precioui: 
metals. Among those who took up their abode in New 
3Iexico, during the first nine years after Onate had entered 
the country, were three Flemish men, l)ut citizens of 
Mexico, named Juan Fresco, (Cool John), .Juan De'scalso), 
(Barefooted John), and Rodrigo Lorenzo. They turned 
their attention to mining ; discovered many new mines ; 
extracted a good deal of silver from the ore, and made 
many experiments in the precious metals. Encouraged 
by Avhat they had seen and done in the business of mining, 
they returned to Mexico and obtained competent miners 
and refiners, together with the necessary machinery to 
work the mines, which they carried back with them to 
New ]\Iexico. When they reached the settlements, and 
the Spaniards lieard their intention, the latter assembled 
the night of their arrival, set fire to the machinery and 
burnt it. This is said to have been done because the 
governor, Don Pedro de Peralto, gave the enterprise his 
countenance ; from which it would appear that the settlers 
would not allow those who were so disposed work the 
mines. 

When Onate had erected his own house, and the colo- 
-nists were in a condition for him to be absent, he made 



"THE CONQUEST OF NEW 3IEXIC0. 273 

• 

:'ri visit to the different Indian provinces. After he had 
' been to those neighboring to the new settlements, he 
extended his explorations into the interior, and visited 
the more distant. Having heard a good deal said of the 
great city of Quivira, he determined to make a trip 
thither, to obtain correct inform_ation of the people and 
the coinitry. For this purpose he left the village of New 
Mexico some time in the year 1599, accompanied by 
eighty soldiers as an escort and lather Francisco de 
Velasco, then commissary of the province, and a secular 
friar named Pedro de' Vergara, both of whom had come 
into the comitry with him. He took for guide the Mex- 
ican Indian, Josefe, who made his escape from Humana, 
as before mentioned. 

Thus prepared for the expedition' lie took up the line 
of march, traveling in an East South-east direction over 
the buffalo plains, covered with great herds of that animal. 
They passed through a beautiful, healthful and fertile 
country, with a salubrious climate, and well watered. 
The plains abounded with fine pasture, and the soil pro- 
duced by cultivation good grapes, plums, and other fruits. 
They traveled, according to their computation, the dis- 
taste of two hundred leagues, when they arrived at what 
they denominated the " promised land," from its great 
beauty 'and fertility. They saw, upon the plains, wan- 
dering Indians, without permanent habitations, who dwelt 

■ in huts of straw, and lived upon the flesh of the buffalo, 
and who never planted, or laid up food. They dressed 
in skins, which they also carried into the settled provinces 
to sell, and brought back in return corn-meal. i 

The Spaniards also encountered a tribe of Indians 

« called Escansaques, who were then on their way to make 

1 These people were probably the Querechos described by Castaneda, 
-IS 



:74 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



• 



Ibattle witli their enemies, the Quiviras. They had be^^L 
in the habit of entering the settlements and setting fire to 
the houses, and father Velasco persuaded Onate to punish 
them in such a manner that they would not he likely to 
do any damage in future. A battle took place between 
them and the Indians, in which a thousand of the latter 
were killed and a number of the Spaniards wounded. 
Here was found some evidence of the killing of Humaiia 
and his companions, in a few articles of iron, old boots, 
and bones of horses seen at this point. 

When the Quiviras Indians heard of the approach of 
the Spani£j,rds, they sent a messenger to receive them ; 
])ut when he saw them in company with their enemies, 
the Escansacpies, he became alarmed, and dared not cross 
the river which separated them. Onate sent a party of 
soldiers to cut off his retreat and make him prisoner, 
which they succeeded in doing, and brought him in to 
camp and put him in irons. The Quiviras, hearing what 
had happened to their messenger, resolved to rescue him, 
which they accomplished by a little stratagem and cun- 
ning. They pretended to have became reconciled with 
the Spaniards and visited their camp, but while the 
latter were taking care of their arms, they succeed^ iv 
carrying off both the Indian and his irons. The sur- 
rounding country appearing to be thickly settled, from 
the number of smokes rising in alb directions, Oiiate sent 
out a reconnoitering party. They returned the next day, 
and reported that there was no end to the settlements ; 
that the Indians said the country was very extensive, and 
was still more populous to the North. The Indians 
likewise told them that it was the custom of their people 
to hang their clothes upon the trees when they were 

■1 The same Quivira that Corouado visited. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 275 

preparing for war, wliere tliey, themselves, had seen 
them hanging. They heard much said of the great wealth 
of the country, and how the spear heads and drinking 
cups were made of gold, but they saw no evidence of it. 

Upon the return of the reconnoitering party the Span- 
iards advanced toward the settlements, taking the direction 
the Indians had fled after they released the prisoner. On 
their approach the Indians abandoned their houses througli 
,fear; but when they were informed how many of their 
enemies, the Escansaques, had been killed, they were 
assured and returned. They were now satisfied that the 
Spaniards were a brave people and would make valuable 
friends, and their exploit was published throughout the 
country. The Indians now desired their friendship), and 
for this purpose they sent, as embassador to them, an 
Indian of Quivira, a man of great shrewdness and reserve, 
who established peace between the parties. Onate was 
well satisfied, from what he could learn, that the country 
abounded in gold, and which the Indians refined by n, 
process they called Tejas.s 

When Ofiate returned to Mexico he took with him two 
Indian boys he had made prisoners in the fight with the 
Escansaques, and whom he named Miguel, because the 
action took place on that day. In the city of lltlexico 
one of them built a furnace for refining gold, with an 
accuracy that astonished all of that occupation. He 
said this was the only metal found in the country 
whence he came, and that he was acquainted with no 
other kind. The silversmiths tried to deceive him witJi 
plated and spurious articles, but they could not, as m 

3 The author has not been able to procure the balance of Onate's 
journal, which will account for the abrupt termination of his adventures 
in New Mexico. 



•276 THE .CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO^ 

every instance he readily distinguislied the true from tll^o 
false. He was afterward taken to Spain and presented 
to Philip III. and the Com-t. The silversmiths of the 
capital also tried to deceive him with a mixture of metals, 
but in every case he detected the spurious article and 
pointed out the pure gold. His intelligence created quite 
a sensation at Court. He made a map of his native pro- 
vince and the neighboring countries, with an accuracy 
that caused great surprise, and w^liich was placed in the 
hands of the duke of Infantado, where it was afterward 
seen by father Francisco Velasco. Miguel gave such a 
flattering account of the wealth and greatness of the 
country, and of the abundance of gold to be found there, 
that the king determined to cause that region to be well 
explored, and gave immediate orders for one thousand 
men to be equipped for that purpose. The gentleman, 
who carried this Indian to Spain, wishing to do great 
service to his country offered to equip one half the 
soldiers at his own expense. The king granted him 
permission to do so; and he wrote to the viceroy of 
lilexico, that in case he should comply with his promise 
the other five hundred were to be equipped at his, the 
king's, expense. But nothing vras done in the matter, 
and the expedition entirely failed* 

Oiiate appears to have remained several years in New 
]\Iexico after his expedition to Quivira, and was engaged 
in subduing the natives, and making settlements. Several 
villages and missions were established, principally in the 
valley of the Del Norte, and the colony flourished and 
gained strength from year to year. In 1611 he made an 
exploration toward the East and discovered what were 
then known as the Cannibal lakes, and also a river whie}^ 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. , 277 

was called tlie " river of Cadaudachos, whicli means Pali- 
sade. "4 

While the settlers were occupied in subduing the 
Indians, cultivating the soil, and digging the precious 
metals, the friars were employed in preaching to the 
natives and converting them to Christianity. The number 
of these pious missionaries was increased, from time to 
time, and with a zeal worthy the cause in which they 
were engaged, they traversed all parts of the country 
proclaiming the gospel to the heathen. The first mission 
was established at a j^lace called El Tegua,yo, and down 
to the year 1608 eight thousand Indians had been bap- 
tised and converted to Catholicism. Among the religious 
men who came into the country within a few years after 
the arrival of Oiiate, was one Geronimo de Zarate Sal- 
maron, a monk of the Franciscan order, who passed eight 
years of his life endeavoring to civilize and christianize 
the natives. He took up his residence in the pueblo of 
Jemez, which language he acquired, and preached to the 
inhabitants in their native tongue. He resided there 
several years, and baptised, and administered the sacra- 
ment to, six thousand five hundred and sixty-six Indians 
of this nation, besides baptising a large number of the 
pueblos of Cia and Santa Ana, of the Queres jiation. He 
built several churches and convents, and did many other 
praiseworthy acts to improve the condition of the heathen 
inhabitants. He m^ade a visit to the pueblo of Acoma, 
then hostile to the Spaniards, which he succeeded in 
pacifying and inducing to make peace. He traveled over 
a large portion of the country, wliich he explored ; and 
upon his return to Mexico to lay the result of his mission 

4 The situation of these lakes is not known at the present day ; but 
tlie river is probably the Canadian fork of the Arkansas. 



278 .THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

before the head of liis order, he wrote an account of the 
country, giving the location of the various mines of 
precious metals, with such general information as would 
be of service to those who might succeed him. 

In the year 1629, by order of the reverend father friar 
Francisco de Apodaca, the "commissary of all the 
provinces and consecrated vessels of New Spain," one 
friar Francisco de Velasco examined the journal of Sal- 
maron, and caused the same to be made public, in order 
to stimulate other religious men to undertake missions 
into the country to convert the natives from idolatry. 
The notice of Yelasco, giving publicity to this journal, is 
dated at the convent of San Francisco, city of Mexico, 
August the 18th, 1629.5 

'. I have not been able to find Salmeron's journal. 



TfiE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 279 



'CHAPTER XXXVI. 



TiiE INDIANS BECOME DISCONTENTED UNDEE SPANISH EULE, 
AND MAKE SEVEEAL ATTEMPTS AT EEBELLION. 

As hfis been already stated, when llie Christians first 
entered Xew ]\Iexico to estabhsh permanent settlements, 
the Indians received them with kindness and extended to 
them the lights of savage Rospitalitj. They furnished 
them the means of living until their fields should bring 
forth fruit, and assisted them in erecting dwellings to 
shelter. them from cold and storm. The simple-minded 
natives were of an amiable disposition and averse to war; 
and were disposed to live on terms of good- will with the 
strangers who had made their homes in their country. 

In a few years, however, the Spaniards began to as- 
sume the prerogative of masters, and under the rule of 
tyranny which naturally followed, all harmony and good- 
feeling between the races were at an end. It had ever 
l)een the policy of Spain, in all her American conquests, 
to change the religion as well as the civil institutions of 
those whom she conquered. In accordance with this 
rule of action, the Spanish settlers of New Mexico soon 
required the Indians to give up the religious faith of their 



280 THE. CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICa 

fathers, to which they were strongly attached, and em'- 
brace Catholicism. To effect this purpose with more 
facihty, churches were built and priests established in . 
most of the pueblos ; religious services were celebrated 
according to the forms of the Catholic church, and the 
Indians were compelled to adopt a mode of worship 
which they neither understood not sympathized with. 
In a short time they saw all theii' ancient rites prohibited ; 
their estufasiweie closed ; their altars removed, and their 
idols destroyed. Their favorite dance the Oac/ii?ia, 
wliich made up part of their religious worship, was in- 
terdicted ; and in fine they saw themselves compelled to 
kneel at the white man's shrine, to worship his God, and 
by their sweat and toil to support a swarm of priests, 
established in all their villages. The Indians were 
naturally attached to the religion of their race, in whicli 
tliey had been reared and which their fathers had 
believed in from time immemorial, and it was a severe 
trial for them to give it up. This was a compliance 
cruel in the extreme, but the strong arm of Spanisli 
power obliged them to submit ; and not unfrequently 
the lash was applied to make them more devout. In 
addition to this, when the Spaniards turned their atten- 
tion to mining, the Indians were compelled to work in 

1 The estufa still retains its importance in the political and religious 
organization of the Pueblo Indians. Each village contains one, which 
is. used both as a council chamber and a place of worship, where they 
practice such of their heathen rites as still exist among them. It is • 
built partly under ground, and is considered a holy place. In it the 
Indians hold all their deliberations on public affairs, and transact the 
ordinary municipal business of the village. It is said to be their cus- 
tom when they return from a successful war expedition, to repair to 
the estufa, where they strip themselves of their clothing and dance 
and otherwise celebrate their success ; and that, upon some occasions,, . 
they remain there two or three dayg before visiting their families. 



THE CONQUEST OF NKW IMEXICO. 281 

tiie mines, where, year after year, they dragged out a 
life more miserable than death itself. From these causes 
the natives became bitterly hostile to the Christians ; and 
as years rolled away with renewed and increased hard- 
ships, their hearts were steeled against all desire of 
reconciliation. Erom this time friendship between the 
races was at an end, and they became open or secret 
enemies. 

Under these circumstances we are not surprised that 
^the Indians wore the Spanish yoke with uneasiness and. 
discontent, and longed to throw it off. They now began 
to look upon the Spaniards as intruders in the country, 
and considered it their duty to expel them. In secret 
they still worshipped the Gods of their- fathers, and 
neither the teachings of the priests, nor the severe 
punishments inflicted upon them, could compel them to 
relinquish their ancient rites. Whenever they were 
known to indulge in their heathen ceremonies, even in 
the privacy of the estufa, they were severely punished ; 
but this had only the effect to incense them still more, 
and increase their hatred of the Spaniards. 

The Indians now resolved to rid themselves of their 
harsh task-masters, and to effect this object a general 
combination of all the pueblos was agreed upon. They 
began to manifest open discontent, and defy the Spanish 
power. They made several attempts at rebellion before 
success crowned their efforts, in every instance being 
either betrayed by one of their own number, or immedi- 
ately overpowered after they had taken up arms. The 
first attempt of the kind, of which we have any record, 
was about the year 1640, while General Arguello was the 
governor and captain-general of the province. The 
immediate cause of. this outbreak was the whipping, im- 



282 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

prisoning and hanging of forty Indians, because they 
would not relinquish their heathen worship and become 
devout Catholics. They flew to arms but were soon 
overpowered. During the same administration the Jemez 
and the Apache Indians combined in a conspiracy, but 
the effort was futile, as they succeeded in killing only one 
Spaniard, named Diego IMartinez Naranjo. The governor 
caused twenty-nine of the conspirators to be arrested and 
imprisoned. 

A second rebellion was put on foot in the year 1650, 
during the administration of General Concha. It was 
planned by the pueblos of the Teguas nation, namely : 
Ysleta, Alameda, San Felipe, Cochites and Jemez ; and 
it was the intention of the Indians to drive every Span- 
iard, and particularly the priests, from the country whom 
fiiey did not massacre. In this instance the Apachess 
also became their allies. The time agreed upon for the 
outbreak to take place was the Thursday night of Passion - 
Week, when the Christians would be generally assembled 
in the churches engaged in religious exercises, and being 
unprepared for defence the Indians were to rush in and 
massacre them. Fortunately the conspiracy was dis- 
covered before the time arrived to carry it into effect, 
and was prevented. A party of Indians had been sent 

2 Ysleta, San Felipe and Cochite are situated in the valley of the Del 
Nortu, the two former South of Santa Fe, the latter about due West, 
and within sight of the town Pena Blanca. Alameda was situated 
near Albuquerque, and has long siuce passed away. San Felipe is a 
few miles South of Pefti Blanca, and almost in sight of it. On a high 
bluflf mesa near this pueblo, and overlooking the river, is the ruin of 
an old pueblo, which has not been occupied within the memory of the 
present generation. 

3 A wandering tribe, consisting of sevef al bands, and occupying va- 
rious parts of New Mexico. They live in lodges and subsist by the 

<<!kase and stealing. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 283 

Gilt to steal horses to aid tlieni in the enterprise, and the 
Spaniards suspecting some mischief, dispatched captain 
Alonzo Baca in pursuit. He succeeded in arresting them 
with the animals in their possession, when they made a 
full confession of their plan of operations. They informed 
him that the horses had been dehvered to them by the 
Christian Indians of Sandia and Alameda ; and that all 
the pueblos had united witb»the Apaches, in a conspiracy 
to kill every Spaniard in the country. Baca lost no time 
in communicating this information to the alcalde of 
Alameda, who gave immediate notice of what he had 
heard, to the governor. General Concha took prompt 
action in the matter. He ordered an investigation to be 
held forthwith, which resulted in the discovery of all the 
plans of the enemy, by which the rebellion was crushed 
and the ring-leaders secured. ]\Iany Indians were arrested 
and imprisoned, of whom nine were hung, and a number 
sold into slavery for the term of ten years. These 
energetic measures overawed the rebels, and for the 
present they remained quiet. 

For some time the two races lived in apparent friend- 
ship with each other, and nothing more was heard of 
rebellion, but the Indians had not relinquished the hope 
of driving the Spaniards from the country. For a few 
years undisturbed quiet reigned throughout the province, 
and the Indians bore their grievances in silence and 
sadness. During the administration of General Villanueva 
the Indians of the pueblo of Piros conspired with the 
Apaches, and fled from their village and took refuge 
with the latter in the Magdalena mountains. From this 
rendezvous they sallied forth with arms in their hands 
and commenced the work of death. They killed live 
.Spaniards before they could be overpowered, ane of 



284 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO*^ 

whom was an alcalde of a neigliboring village, who, was. 
murdered by a Christiau Indian named Tambulita. This, 
was the extent of the injury done when the conspiracy 
was crushed and the leaders secured. Six of them were 
hung, and many others imprisoned and sold into slavery, 
Among other superstitions that existed with the Indians 
of New IMexico was that of witchcraft, and about this 
time the Spaniards caused several of the inhabitants of 
Senacu to be burnt for this imaginary offence.* 

A short time afterward another rebellion was put on 
foot which resulted as disastrously as before. The head 
and front of this movement was Estevan Clemente, the 
governor of the Salt Lake pueblos, an Indian of much 
influence, and to whom his brethren paid great deference.. 
This conspiracy was general throughout the country, and 
not a white man was to be spared to tell the tale of 
blood. Clemente directed the Indians to steal the horses 
of the Spaniards and conceal them in the mountains, so 
they would have no means of escape should they attempt 
it. The time fixed upon for the outbreak was the 
Thursday night of Passion-Week as before ; but mean- 
while the whole plan of operations was discovered and 
the rebellion nipped in the bud. Clemente was arrested 
and hung, when his followers abandoned -the enterprise 
and made terms with the Spaniards. There were found 
among the effects of this Indian many idols and other 

4 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico still believe in witchcraft. In 
the spring of 1854, the Indians of the pueblo of Nambe put two of their 
own number to death for this imaginary offence, being accused of eat- 
ing up all the httle children of the village. The offenders were tried 
before the United States District Court at Santa Fe, for murder, and 
acquitted because it could not be clearly proved in which of two ad- 
joining counties the killing took place. The author conducted the caga 
for the government,. 



'fHE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 285 

'^.rticles in readiness to resume their heathen worship had 
the conspiracy been successful. 

In the year 1675, and while general Juan Francisco 
Frecenio was governor and captain-general of the province, 
'the Indians of the Teguas nation were accused of having 
bewitched friar Anares Duran, superior of the convent of 
the pueblo of San Yldefonso, his brother, sister-in-law, 
and an Indian interpreter. Upon information being laid 
before the proper authorities, upward of forty of the In- 
dians were arrested and imprisoned. A military tribunal, 
composed of Francisco Javier, civil and military secretary 
of the governor, as judge conliscator and executioner ; 
Louis de Quintana, associate judge, and scrgeant-rnajor 
Diego Lopez, interpreter, was organized for their ex- 
amination. Upon being arraigned the Indians pleaded 
guilty, when forty-three were sentenced to be whipped 
and sold into slavery, and four to be hanged. Of the 
four sentenced to suffer death, one was hung in Nambe, 
' another in the pueblo of San Felipe, a third in Jemez, 
and the fourth hung himself 

This proceeding increased the hostility of the Indians 
toward the Spaniards, and those of the Teguas nation 
formed a conspiracy to put the governor to death. For 
a time they were troublesome, but no outbreak occurred 
nor was there any open resistance to the Spanish au- 
thority. While the Indians nnfler sentence remained in 
confinement, seventy warriors of this nation, under the 
command of Pope, a distingtiished San Juan Indian, 
repaired to the quarters of the governor early one morn- 
ing, and demanded the release of their brethren. They 
• entered the house and filled two of the rooms, and laid 
before him eggs, chickens, tobacco, beans and i3eltries, as 
•a ransom for the prisoners. Tlie governor was akrmed 



286 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

at the resolute front the Indians wore, but exhibited no 
sign of fear. In reply to their demand, he told them 
that he would release those in confinement if. they would 
abandon their heathen customs, when they quietly retired. 
Thus the Indians, for a period of nearly half a century, 
and during the administration of fourteen governors, 
made ineffectual attempts to free themselves from the 
yoke of the Spaniards. The latter were kept ii; a state of 
constant alarm and fear, and the most nnceasinjr vio-ilance 
was required on their part to prevent themselves being 
expelled the country. These repeated failures, however, 
did not dampen the ardor of the Indians for rebellion, nor 
relax their efforts to be free. From time to time they 
renewed the attempt, and each succeeding effort brought 
to the work increased wisdom and cunning, and expe-* 
rience purchased by defeat. At length the oppression of 
the Spaniards reached such a pitch that the Indians were 
determined to bear it.no longer ; forbearance had ceased 
to be a virtue, and they resolved to make a united and 
mighty effort to rid themselves of their oppressors forever. 
T]iis led to the revolution of 1680 which resulted in the 
expulsion of the Spaniards from the country, when the 
Indians maintained their independence for upward of ten 
years in spite of all the force the government couid send 
against them. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 28-7 



CHAPTER XXXVII- 



THE INDIANS EISE IN REBELLION AGAINST THE SPANISJl 
AUTHORITIES. 

After the defeat of tlieir contemplated rebellion in the 
time of Governor Concha, the Indians had repeatedly 
discussed the formation of new conspiracies in their pri- 
vate assemblies, which some of the pueblos advocated and 
others opposed. The first attempt, to unite all the 
pueblos in a common league ag^kinst the Spaniards, was 
made by the Taos Indians. Their method of communi- 
cating intelligence to their brethren was simple but 
effective. They obtained two deer-skins npon which 
they made drawings representing the manner of the 
proposed conspiracy, and the object of it. These they 
sent by trusty hands to all the Christian puebloS; with an 
invitation to join in the enterprise. Messengers were 
even sent to the distant villages of Moqni, but they 
refused to unite with the others, for which reason the 
project was postponed. 

The second effort of the kind was put on foot in the 
year 1680, by the same Pope, who is mentioned in the 
last chapter. He was a man of decided ability, and 



288 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 

exercised a controling influence over his untutoreH 
brethren. He traversed the country in all directions, 
■ and, with an eloquent tongue, pictured to the Indians the 
wrongs they were suffering, and aroused them to a desire 
to throw off their yoke. He told them that their Great 
Father and chief of all the pueblos, he who had been 
their father since the flood, had commissioned him to 
order his countrymen to rebel against the Spaniards and 
drive them from the land, so that they could live as their 
forefathers had done, free and independent. To wield a 
greater influence with them, he made them believe that 
this undertaking was the result of supernatural agencies, 
and that he held intercourse with the devil, who was 
lending all his aid to the work. He said, that one day 
while down in the estufa at Taos, there appeared unto 
him three figures of Indians who were always present 
there. They were named Caidit, Tilim and Tlesime, 
who sent forth fire from every extremity of their body ; 
and were messengers from the infernal regions ; that they 
conversed with him, advising him v;hat course he should 
take to unite all the Indians in a common league against 
the Spaniards. That they directed him to make a rope 
of the palm-leaf, and tie in it a number of kots to repre- 
sent the number of days before tlie rebellion vras to take 
place ; that he must send this rope to all the pueblos in 
the kingdom, when each one should signify its approval 
of, and union with, the conspiracy by untying one of the 
knots. Pope, as he had been directed, caused the palm- 
leaf rope to be carried from pueblo to pueblo, by the 
fleetest young men, with an invitation to all to join in 
the enterprise, and threatening with death those who re- 
fused. Absolute secrecy was enjoined upon all. The 
; rppe was carried taevery pueblo but that of Piros, which, 



miE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 289 

"^"or some unexplained cause, was not invited to participate 
in the rebellion. In this simple manner notice was given 
^11 over the province of the proposed rebellion, and the- 
time it was to take place. 

Pope was not alone in his endeavors to arouse his 
countrymen to a sense of their wrongs and persuade them 
■to drive the Spaniards from the countr3\ He was 'the 
leading spirit in the work, but he had soane active and 
zealous co-laborers. These were Catite, a half-breed 
Queres Indian, Tacu of San Juan,i Jaca of the Taos 
pueblo, and one from San Yldefonso,2 called Francisco. 
^Some of these men had cause of personal revenge ; and 
-all burned with a desire to rid themselves of the system 
of tyranny under which they had been groaning for near 
a century. They had been whipped and scourged ])e- 
cause they would not bow down and worship the unknown 
God of the Spaniard, and been compelled to dig the 
precious metals from the bowels of the earth to satisfy the 
■avarice of their tyrants ; and they thirsted for vengeance. 
Everything was conducted with the most profound 
secrecy, and no means spared to prevent their plans, 
liecoming known to the Spaniards. A constant watch 
was kept upon those who were thought likely to divulge 
the plot, and not a woman was let into the confidence oi 
the conspirators. Pope's own son-in-law, Nicholas Bua, 
governor of the pueblo of San Juan, fell under his suspi- 
cion, and, for fear he might give information to the enemy, 
he put him to death by his own hands. Tlic Indians 

1 It is said that the two pueblos of San Juan and Pozos remained 
faithful to the Spanish, for which the former was afterward styled Sau 
Juan de los Caballeros, or the gentlemanly San Juauers, 

2 The pueblos of San Juan and San Yldefonso are situated in ibc 
valley of the Del Norto', a few miles North cf Santa Fe', 

19 



290 THE CONQUEST OF XEYv^ MEXICO. 

held Pope in great dread because of tlieir belief that hi 
held intercourse vritli the evil spirit, and thej attached 
more importance to what he said than that spoken by all 
die other leaders. 

The time fixed upon for the rebellion to break out 
was the 10th of August, and tlie poor, oppressed Indians 
looked forward to its arrival as the period that was to 
deliver their necks from the yoke of the Spaniards. They 
had newly bent their bows and tipped their arrows afresh 
to draw Christian blood, and they awaited with impatience 
for the day of vengeance to come. In spite of all their 
precaution, however, treachery lurked in their own ranks. 
Two da3's before the time fixed upon, two Indians of the 
pueblo of Tezuque went down to Santa Fe and di\n.dged 
the conspiracy to the Spanish • governor. The}' wert 
parties to it, but betrayed their country and their cause 
to the enemy. The Indians were immediately informed 
that their plans had been made known to the Spaniards, 
and, fearing that delay might endanger the whole enter- 
prise,they resolved to take up arms forthwith. That night 
the pueblos nearest the capital commenced an indiscrim- 
inate slaughter of all Christians who fell into tlieir hands, 
sparing neither priests, women nor children, except a fev*' 
of the handsomest maidens, whom the warriors reserved 
tor wives. 

The rebellion burst upon the Spanish authorities 
before they were prepared to meet it, and they were in 
dismay when informed that the Indians were advancing 
toward the capital. The most vigorous measures were 
taken to roll back the tide of rebellion that was setting 
in upon them from all parts of the country. Governor 
Otermin directed that the Spaniards in the South should 
take refuge in the pueblo of Isleta, under the command of 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 291 

the lieutenant-governor, and there fortify themselves ; 
while those in the North were ordered to repair to Santa 
Fe. The settlers obeyed the summons with alacrity, and 
leaving their homes hastened toward the places of ren- 
dezvous ; many reached them in safety, but a large number 
were overtaken on the way by the Indians and put to 
death without mercy. The capital, meanwhile, was put 
in the best possible state of defence. The suburbs were 
abandoned and the inhabitants withdrew to the central 
part of the town. The streets entering into the plaza 
were strongly barricaded ; the government buildings were 
converted into fortifications, and arms distributed among 
the citizens. 

Thus situated, the little garrison awaited, with much 
apprehension, the approach and attack of the savages. 
Information reached them daily that they were advancing 
toward the town, and they were in hourly expectation of 
seeing them make' their appearance. Two Spanish sol- 
diers arrived from Taos on the evening of the 10th instant, 
having passed through the rebels with difficulty, who 
brought information to the governor that the Taos pueblo 
was in arms, and on the march for the capital. They 
also reported that the Spaniards at La Canada were well 
fortified and able to defend themselves. The governor 
sent out a detachment of soldiers in that direction to 
reconnoitre the enemy, with orders to bring in the citizens 
who remained at La Canada. In the meantime, however, 
the Indians had attacked that place, massacred the inhab- 
itants, destroyed the town and driven ofiT the stock, and 
on the 12th the troops returned with the intelligence,. 
The Indians were now gradually drawing near Santa Fe, 
and the alarm of the inhabitants and the garrison in- 
creased daily. They had avowed the massacre of the 



292 THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 

iSpaniards in the several pueblos, and threatened the rest 
with the same fate, expressing a determination to exter- 
minate all who were in the country. 

Two friendly Indians were dispatched in the direction 
of the Galisteo, to gain intelligence of the enemy in that 
quarter. They had been absent but a few hours, when 
they returned with the information that about five hun- 
dred warriors of the Tagnos nation were marching toward 
Santa Fe, and were not more than a league distant. The. 
spies had entered their camp, and understanding their 
language had been able to learn something of their plan 
of operations, as well as to note the disposition they 
manifested. They were incensed in a high degree against 
the Spaniards, and were confident of success. They 
declared that the God of the Christian was dead, but that 
their God, the sun, never died. They were only waiting 
to be joined by the Teguas and Apaches to carry into 
eifect their war of extermination. 

The forces of the savages followed close upon the steps 
of the two spies, and the following morning they were 
seen approaching the town in large numbers from the 
South. They halted in the suburbs, and took possession 
of some deserted houses to await the arrival of their allies 
from the North, before making an attacks Governor 
Otermin was fully sensible of the danger that menaced 
him and his little garrison, and determined to arrest it, 
if possible. He desired to hold a parley with the rebel 
chiefs and induce them to withdraw their forces before 
the arrival of the Northern Indians ; and for this purpose 
he sent out a deputation to meet them in conference. But 
instead of manifesting any -sdllingness to come to terms, 
they exhibited a strong determination for Vv^ar. They 
■informed the Spanish ofiicers that they had brought with 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 293 

tliem two crosses, one painted red which signified war, 
and the other white which indicated peace, and they might 
take their choice between the two ; but if they selected 
the one whicli indicated peace, it conld only be upon 
condition of an immediate evacuation of the country. 
The governor made every possible effort to concihate the 
rebels, and induce tliem quietly to return to their homes. 
He offered to pardon all then* crimes and receive them 
again into the favor of the government if they would lay 
down their arms and become good Christians and loyal 
subjects ; but they treated these overtures with scorn and 
refused to listen to any terms of peace. For nearly a 
century they had toiled and labored under the iron rulfe 
of their Spanish task-masters, and now they saw a gleam 
of happier times ; a day of deliverance and retribution 
was near at hand, and they could not give up the hope 
of retaliation and again place themselves in bondage. 
The conference ended, and the Indians awaited the arrival 
of their confederates. 



294 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO- 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



THE INDIANS BESIEGE SANTA FE, AND COMPEL THE SPAN- 
lAEDS TO EVACUATE THE TOWN. 

Governor Otermin having failed to conciliate the 
Indians, now determined to attack them, hoping to defeat 
them before the arrival of their confederates from the 
North. For this pm-pose the garrison made a sortie to 
dislodge them from the suburbs. The savages received 
them with great braverj, and handled them so roughly 
that the governor was obhged to turn out in person with 
all the disposable force to save them from defeat. The 
battle was continued all day, being maintained with equal 
courage on both sides. The Spaniards had a few men 
killed and wounded, but the loss of the Indians was very 
great. Toward evening, and before the action was ended, 
the Teguas and other nations were seen approaching the 
town from the North, when the Spaniards were obliged 
to retire within their fortifications and relinquish the ad- 
vantages they had gained during the day. The enemy 
encamped close under the waUs of the town and prepared 
to invest it. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 29'5 

The Indians closely besieged Santa Fe,i and took 
^'every precaution to confine the Spaniards within their 
earthen walls. Their numbers increased daily by the ar- 
,rival of warrior^ from snrrounding pueblos, and they 
showed a determination to starve out the unfortunate 
garrison. The siege had now lasted nine days, and the 
«nemy exhibited no disposition to relax the investment of 
the town. The condition of the garrison was becoming 
desperate in the extreme. The Indians had turned off the 
stream that supplied them with water, and the horses and 



1 Santa Fe, or, as it is sometimes written, Santa Fc de San Francisco,, 
the city of tlie Holy Faith of Saint Francis, is the capital of tlie terri- 
tory of New Mexico, and has been the seat ot government of that 
country almost from the time the Spaniards first settled it. It is in 
latitude 35 degrees, 41 minutes North, and lOG degi'ees West longitude 
from Greenwich, and has an' elevation of more than seven thousand 
feet above the level of the sea. It is situated at the western base of the 
great Rocky chain of mountains, in a pleasant valley, and on both sides 
of a little river of the same name that empties into the Rio del Norte 
about twenty miles to the South-west. History is silent as to the time 
Santa Fe was first settled by the Spaniards, but it was no doubt soon 
after they arrived in New Mexico. It was the capital long before 1680, 
and the seat of the civil and military power of the Spaniards. The 
city occupies nearly the site of several Indian pueblos, and here was 
established the power of their kingdoms ; but they have long since 
fallen to ruins, and all that remains of them are the pieces of pottery 
to be found on the surrounding hills and down the valley, and parts oi 
two of their old houses on the road leading to San Miguel. A portion 
of the old palace is still standing, a quaint old building, the witness of 
stirring events long befare William Penn founded Pennsylvania. Santa 
Fe is a mud-built city, the houses being constructed of adobes from 
turret to foundation stone. The streets are narrow and unpaved. In 
the centre of the city is a large public squai-e, or plaza, of late years 
planted with trees and enclosed with a board fence ; and fronting it 
are the leading mercantile and business houses. It contains but few 
public buildings. It is the centre of an extensive and profitable busi- 
ness with Eastern cities. The population is about five thousand. .The 
■cUaiatels delightfol. 



296 THE CONQUEST- OF KEW MEXICO; 

Other animals were dying of thirst ; provisions were be- 
coming scarce, and starvation l)egan to stare tliem in the 
face. All hope of succor, under present circumstances^ 
was at an end, and the only alternative left the garrison 
was to starve for want of supplies, or to make a sortie 
and cut their way through the enemy. The latter course 
was resolved upon and they made the necessary prepara- 
tions for it during the night of the ninth day of the siege. 
The next morning, at sunrise, they sallied out of their works 
and made a desperate assault upon the savages. In spite 
of greatly superior numbers, Otermin succeeded in cut- 
ting his way tlu'ough the Indians and driving them from 
their position. Three hundred of the enemy were slain, 
and forty-seven made prisoners, besides a large amount of 
property recaptured. The captives were examined as 
to the nature of the conspiracy, after which' they were 
executed. The Spaniards lost a- few soldiers killed and 
wounded, the governor being numbered among the latter.; 
The Indians now raised the siege, and, about three thou- 
sand strong, retired to the mountains a little distance from 
the towm. 

Otermin now called a council of war to determine what 
course to pursue in the emergency. Although the popu- 
lation of Santa Fe was over one thousand souls, not more 
than an hundred able bodied men could be mustered 
to oppose the swarm of savages that surrounded them. 
They were fatigued by fighting and constant watching 
by day and by night, and the supply of provisions was 
about exhausted. In view of this condition of things, 
the council resolved that it was advisable to evacuate the 
rown and leave it to its fate. Tliis course determined 
upon, they made immediate preparations to carry it intO' 
effect. They completed their arrangements . during the 



T-KE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 297 

night of the 20th of August, and early the next morning 
they evacuated the town and took up the line of march 
for El Paso del Norte. The inhabitants accompanied 
the troops on foot and carried their own baggage, as 
there were not enough animals left to carry the sick and 
wounded. 

• The Indians watched the movements of the Spaniards 
from their camps, but did not attempt to interrupt or 
molest them, and when they had retreated some distance 
they marched in pursuit. The fugitives continued their 
retreat \vith all possible speed to Alamillo, where they 
halted to rest. At this place the Indians came up with 
them and made demonstrations of attack. Here the 
Spaniards were reinforced by forty men under the com- 
mand of adjutant Pedro Leyva, who had heard of their 
distressed condition and marched to their rehef. The 
Indians now gave up the pursuit and. retraced their steps 
toward Santa Fe. A council of war was called by Oter- 
min, when it was decided to continue the march to 
Salienta there to await a supply of provisions, and they 
accordingly again put themselves in route. When they 
reached the pueblo of Isleta they learned that the Span- 
iards who had assembled at that place had retreated to 
the South a few days before. As they marched down 
the valley of the Del Norte they found all the pueblos 
deserted, the ranches laid waste, and the Christians either 
killed or driven away. Tliey were nearly in a starving 
condition, and suffered greatly for provisions as the 
Indians had destroyed or removed everything that could 
afford tliem relief. 

In a few days the whole detachment became so much 
reduced and broken down that it was unable to proceed 
without assistance, and an express was dispatched to the 



il98 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

lieutenant-governor for supplies. He sent tliem a small 
quantity of provisions, and loaned them a few carts to 
transport the baggage and disabled. Before the Spani- 
ards marched from Alamillo an express was dispatched 
to father Ayeta, at El Paso, for a supply of corn. He set 
out from that place with four wagon loads, but in crossing 
the river, which was high, one of the wagons swamped 
and the reverend father came near being drowned. The 
balance of the corn reached the troops which enabled 
them to continue the march. They reached Salienta 
the latter end of September, having overtaken the ad- 
vanced party. Here another council of war was held 
to consider the propriety of returning to New Mexico, 
when it was determined to remain at some convenient 
place near where they then were until the viceroy could 
be heard from. They selected San Lorenzo, about twelve 
leagues above El Paso, for the place of encampment, 
because both wood and water were near at hand. 

The fugitive Spaniards passed the winter at San Lo- 
renzo, and sufiered very nuich. They built rude huts 
raised on four forks, with thatched roofs, and the women, 
barefooted, mixed the mud and plastered the walls. Most 
of the material was brought on the backs of the men, 
the governor and priests assisting in this arduous labor. 
Father Ayeta supplied them with ten beeves and as 
many fanegas of corn, daily, but some of the time they 
were destitute of provisions, and were obliged to live on 
herbs, wild fruit, mesquit-beaus and mescal. ]\Iany left 
San Lorenzo and went to Casas Grandes, Viscaya and 
Sonora, in search of provisions and quarters. The 
governor of Parral issued a circular calhng upon the 
inhabitants to send them supplies, but few only were 
2-eceived. To add to their troubles, the surroundino- 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. * 299 

Indians were hostile, and they were in constant fear of 
an attack ; and they were also threatened by the Indians 
of New Mexico. Upon two occasions Otermin marched 
against the Piros nation and chastised them severely for 
their depredations. 

Upon relinquishing the pursuit of the retreating Span- 
iards the Indians returned to Santa Fe, which they 
entered and took possession of. They immediately 
commenced the work of pillage and destruction. The 
churches and convent were lired and consumed with 
their contents, except the provisions, which they saved ; 
and while the fire was raging the Indians danced around 
the burning piles with the wildest demonstrations of 
delight, crying aloud in the midst of their savage orgies, 
that " God the Father and JMary the Mother of the Span- 
iards were dead," and that their God alone lived. They 
dressed themselves in the vestments of the priests and 
rode around the town on horseback yelling and whooping 
with joy. They established the four cardinal points of 
the compass for their visible church; and erected stone 
enclosures in the plaza around which they danced the 
cachina, and made oiferings of flour, feathers, the seed 
of the meguey plant, corn, tobacco, and other articles to 
propitiate their heathen deities. The children were 
enjoined to observe these rites in future. After these 
ceremonies had been concluded they repaired to the little 
river that flows by the town, in whose limpid v/aters they 
bathed and washed their bodies with soap- weed, 2 in order 
to cleanse themselves of Christian baptism administered 
to them by the Spanish priests. The chiefs ordered that 
the names of Jesus and Mary should not be mentioned 
in the pueblos ; that all should drop baptismal names, 

2 Amole, mentioned before. 



300 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

and pat away the wives who had been given them in. 
marriage, and take for partners any other women whom 
they might fancy. The estufas were directed to be 
opened in place of the churches destroyed, and the 
cachina dance was re-estabhshed with all its forms and 
ceremonies. 

The number of Christians who fell in the rebellion 
was over one hundred, Spaniards and civilized Indians, 
and including men, women, children, and suckling babes ; 
of whom eighteen were priests. The loss of the savages 
was much greater. At the siege of Santa Fe alone more 
than four hundred were killed and a largej number 
womided, besides the loss sustained at other places. 



THE CONQUEsf OF NEAV MEXICO. SO-1 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



WHAT TOOK PLACE AFTER THE SPANIAEDS WERE DRIVEN 
FEOJI THE COUNTRY. 

The Spaniards having been driven from the conntiy, 
the leaders of the rebellion took measures to unite ail the 
Indians in common league against their return. They 
even made overtures to those of Sonora ; and agreed to 
intermarry and live upon friendly terms with the Apaches, 
upon conditions that they wonld assist them in their future 
struggles with the Spaniards. 

Pope made a tour throughout the province to see that 
the Indians were in a proper state of defence to resist any 
attempt of the Christians to reconquer them. He sent 
messengers in advance to all the pueblos to warn the 
people of his coming, and to notify them to be in readi- 
ness to receive him. He was accompanied by Jaca, Louis 
Cupavo and Alonzo Catite, and whithersoever he weftt 
the savages received him with almost regal honors, and 
paid him the most devout submission. He ordered the 
churches and convents to be burned, and the pictures and 
other articles used in Christian worship to be destroyed, 
and the religion of their fathers to be every v\'here 



302 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

re-establisliecl. The Indians were forbidden to speak the 
Spanish language, but compelled to converse in their 
mother tongue. They were prohibited planting any but 
their ancient seeds, beans and corn, and were ordered to 
■throw away all the seeds and grains given them by the 
Spaniards. Tliey were directed to open new lands and 
increase their fields, and Pope assured them that since 
the Spaniards had been driven away they could enjoy 
the fruits of their own labor, and live free and indepen- 
dent as their forefathers had done. "Upon the condition 
of comphance %vith his demands, he promised them the 
blessings of good crops and health. He told them that 
the God of the Spaniards was made of rotten- wood and 
was not good for anything, but that the God whom they 
worshipped was very pow^erful. The Indians were made 
to believe that these commands eminated from the three 
figures whose extremities gave forth fire and smoke, and 
that obedience to them was necessary in order to return 
to their "ancient customs. All who refused to comply 
were immediately put to death. 

When Pope entered Cia he rode a black mule, wore 
the Indian costume, and had a large bull's horn fastened 
upon his head. He reached the pueblo early in the morn- 
ing and was received with the honors paid to the gover- 
nor and father-custodian. According to custom he threw 
corn meal upon the people and assured them that it was 
an emblem of happiness. He ordered the images to be 
taSen from tlie church and broken, and divided the vest- 
ments between Cupavo, Catite and other captains, after 
taking the lion's share himself. Pie then made the 
inhabitants a speech, in substance as follows : That in 
consequence of having driven the Spaniards away he had 
come to accompany them in the chase ; they would kill 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO, 303 

many deer, rabbits, and all otlier animals ; they would 
liave good crops of corn, pumpkins, and large bolls of 
cotton ; that they need not fear the Spaniards as he had 
thrown up entrenchments on the three roads, and built 
strong walls that reached from the earth to the heavens, 
and if tliey should enter by any other road he would 
surround them ' with darkness, and take them without 
arms and put them to death. 

Having made this speech, Pope took Jiis seat at the 
table attended l)y Alonzo Catite, Louis Cupavo and a 
number of others. They drank wine from the sacred 
vessels and toasted him as " Yom* Worship," to which he 
made appropriate responses. The handsomest women of 
"the pueblo were then brought in the room when he 
selected the most comely, and gave the others to his 
captains. During his trip through the country he caused 
many persons to be put to death, and committed numerous 
other outrages. 

The Indians wreaked their vengeance upon the poor 
priests who fell into their hands with terrible cruelty, 
and but few escaped. They looked upon them as the 
cause of nearly all their sufferings, and therefore made 
them the first objects of their revenge. The fate of the 
old priest of Jemez, friar Jesus ]\Iorador, ^vas cruel in the 
extreme. After the prior and the first alcalde had left 
tlie pueblo the Indians went to his cell in the night, 
where he was soundly sleeping ignorant of the rebellion. 
The first intimation he had of danger ^yas the crowd of 
infuriated savages rushing into his room. They Cjuickly 
made him prisoner and stripped him naked ; then mounted 
liim upon the back of a liog, and with hghted torches and 
fiendish yells paraded him around the church and through 
the village, beating him with sticks and heaping curses 



^4 T-IIE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Upon his head. They next compelled him to get doMii 
Upon his hands and knees, M'hen they monnted npon his 
hack and lashed and spurred him through the pueblo until 
exliausted nature gave way, and he fell dead nnder the 
operation. When life was extinct they threw his body 
outside the pueblo to be devoured by wikl beasts. 

Three priests were stationed at Acoma,' named Cristo- 
val Figeroa, Albino IMaldonado, and Juan Mora, whose 
fate was nearly iis cruel as that of the priest of Jemez, 
The Indians stripped them naked, when they tied them 
together with a hair rope and paraded them through the 
pueblo in triumph, making a great noise and covering 
them with abuse. Figeroa, satisfied that they intended 
to put himself and companions to death, told them to 
glut their vengeance upon them, but that in three years 
they would consume each other in wars. This excited 
tlie fury of the Indians, who immediately fell upon them 
with clubs and stones and killed them, when their bodies 
were thrown into a deep cave on the North side of tlie 
pueblo. 

When the news of the rel)ellion reached Zuni tlie 
Indians flew to arms and commenced a massacre of all 
the Spaniards v.dio fell into their hands. Here were also 
stationed three priests, Lorenzo Analiza, Juan de Jesus 
Espinosa, and Sebastian Oalsada. The savages entered 
their cells and dragged them forth to execution. Seeing 
a, servant of Analiza standing near, they du'ected him to 
put them to death, and threatened to kill him if he re- 
fused. He plead earnestly for their lives, but the Inthans 
were deaf to all entreaties. They were then stripped 
and stoned, and afterward tied upon the plaza and shot 
by Analiza's servant. Their bodies were Ijuried in the 
v.illage church. The Indians being now maddened with 



"THE CONQUEST OF NEW IIEXICO. 30'5 

•'rixge, and tlieir revenge l^eing unsatisfied they started for 
the distant pueblos of Moqni. Here were stationed two 
missionaries, padre Juan de VaUada and friar Jesus de 
Lombarde. They were also dragged from their cells in 
a cruel and barbarous manner, then tied together and 
•driven through the streets with shouts of scorn and 
derision, and afterward stolied to death. Their dead 
bodies were thrown outside the pueblo, as food for tlie 
beasts of the field and birds of tlie air. 

The Procurador of the province left Acoma to proceed 
to Zuni while the massacre was taking place, and was 
followed by some Indians. The latter had sent word to 
the Zufiiaus that he was on his way to their pueblo, and 
as he approached they sallied out to meet liim. When 
he saw them coming toward him he was convinced they 
tliirsted for his blood, and that there was no chance of 
escaping them. He dismounted from his mule, knelt 
down upon the ground with his hands' clasped in prayer 
and eyes turned toward heaven, in which position he 
remained until they came up and put him to death. 
They left his body where it fell. In this manner the 
priests stationed in the different pueblos were killed, and 
mostly by their own flocks, for whose spiritual and .tem- 
poral good they had been laboring for years. 

The ancient records relate, among other marvelous 
things that took place during the rebellion, a wonderful 
account of four influential Indians of the pueblo of Cia. 
They were implicitly obeyed and much respected by their 
fellow villagers and had the credit of performing miracle,-;. 
It is stated tliat one of them could make it rain whenever 
there was a necessity for the earth to be refreshed with 
showers from heaven ; a second had the power to create 
rabbits, wolves, and all other animals ; the third could 
20 



306 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

swallow arrows and swords, while the fourth swallowecl 
rattlesnakes whicli passed through him alive without 
doing him any injury. The supposed gift of supernatural 
power was the cause of the great influence they exercised 
over their brethren. These four men were afterward 
captured by the Spaniards and executed in camp by order 
of Don Pedro Renero de Posada. 

^Vfter the revolutionary cliiefs had concluded their jour 
ney through the province they returned to their respective 
pueblos. Upon the arrival of Catite at Santo Domingo 
he caused preparations to be made for tlie celebration of 
the cachina dance. It is I'elated that the idols were 
1>rought out and the Indians assembled waiting for the 
ceremonies to begin, when Catite burst with a report like 
tlie sound of a gun, and was immediately carried ofl:' l^y 
the devil. Louis Cupavo was afterward disposed of in the 
same manner. Pope had been intrusted with the supreme 
command for a long time, when the Indians limited his 
power because of the numerous outrages he had com- 
mitted. He' was deposed at one time, and the chief 
authority was conferred upon Cupavo, but he soon became 
dissatisfied and Pope was reinstated. 

The Indians had now driven . the Spaniards from the 
country and achieved their independence. They abol- 
islied all the social and religious institutions introduced 
by the Christians, and again relapsed into the darkness 
and superstition of barbarism: 



f HE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 307 



CHAPTER XL. 



■r,OVERNOK OTERMIN MARCHES FOK THE RE-CONQUEST OF 
NEW MEXICO. 

At the close of the thirty-eighth chapter we left 
Governor Otermin, with the troops and colonists of New 
Mexico, encamped at San Lorenzo. He remained there 
several months awaiting orders to undertake a re-conqnest 
of the country ; but it was not until the month of Sep- 
tember, of the following year, 1681, that he received 
instructions from the earl of Paredes to fit out an expe- 
dition for that purpose. He immediately began to equip 
liis forces, but this was found to be a task of no ordinary 
magnitude. It was with great difficulty he could procure 
either provisions,- ammunition or transportation, and to 
complete his outfit he was obliged to ask assistance of the 
Franciscan friars at El Paso. They supplied him with 
two thousand fanegas of corn, two thousand beef-cattle, 
besides ammunition, wagons to transport the baggage and 
rations, and other articles the soldiers stood in need of. 
There w^as equal difficulty in arming and equipping the 
expedition. The old armor had become almost worthless 



SOS THE CONQUEST OF KEW BIEXICO. 

from long usage, and for want of better material liemanti- 
factured new armor of ox-liides. There was great scarcity' 
of arms, and some of those he was able to procure were 
fjuite useless. The inhabitants of Santa Ye, burning 
with a desire to revens;e themselves udou the Indians for 
expelling them from their homes, determined to accom- 
pany the expedition, and they enrolled themselves for 
that purpose. On the 18th of September they addressed 
a petition to Otermin requesting that their families might 
be permitted to remain in the garrison at San Lorenzo, 
and be supplied with provisions during their absence 
with the army. They set forth that the nearest point at 
which corn could be procured was at the Casas Grandes, 
eighty leagues distant, where only two persons planted, 
and that not more than two fanegas could be had there. 
The prayer of the petitioners was granted. 

The expedition was organized in accordance M'ith the 
custom of the Spaniards, and, in addition to the troops 
and ordinary army followers, a number of priests accom- 
panied it in order to christianize the Indians in case the 
country should be conquered. Otermin was the general- 
in-chief of the little army and Francisco Javier civil and 
military secretary. The force consisted of both cavalry 
and infantry, with a body of friendly Indians. The num- 
ber of men is not given, but he marched with nine hundred 
and seventy-live horses. The stores and subsistence were 
conveyed in wagons drawn by oxen, and on pack mules. 

The arrangements being completed the general unfurled 
the royal banner on the. morning of November 5th ; and 
amid the sound of trumpets and the shouts of the citizens 
who had asseml/led to witness their departure the little 
army took up its march for New Mexico. They crossed 
to the East side of the Del Norte opposite the town of 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 309 

El PasOji and directed their course to tlic North along the 
bank of that river. The troops marched in good order, 
the different divisions keeping in sight of each other, and 
about sunset reached a point called Estero Largo in the 
vicinity of some large salt marshes. Here they encamped 
for the night. From their camp they could see 4arge 
smokes rising in different directions, proceeding from 
signal fires of the Indians who were watching their move- 
ments. They passed a quiet night, and, resuming the 
march the next morning, continued on to Robledo, forty 
leagues furtlier, v/hich was accomplished without opposi- 
tion from the enemy. This point is at the entrance upon 
an extensive barren region of country known as El Jor- 
nada del Muerto^-i the journey of death, where for the 
distance of ninety miles water is not to be found except 

1 A Mexican town, in the state of Chihuahua, situated on the West 
bank of the Del Norte, a short distance below our boundary line. It 
lies in a fertile valley, and is a place of considerable trade. It was 
founded by the Spaniards at an early day. 

2 This is a stretch of barren country, in the southern part of New 
3Iexico, the only vegetation being a short dry grass and a few tall 
weeds. It stretches from Fray Cristoval on the North to Dona Ana on 
the South, nearly an hundred miles. In the whole distance there is 
no running water, and the only reliance is upon what collects in holes 
when it rains. El Jornada is properly table laud, for it is considerably 
elevated above the general level at its two termini, and in shape not 
unlike a canoe. Its width varies from five to thirty miles. It is 
bounded on each side by a range of mountains, that on the West shut- 
ting off the approach to the river. The Rio del Norte here makes a 
long turn to the West whil ethe road across the desert runs nearly North 
and South. It has ever been the dread of travelers, and many an one has 
entered npon it never to be heard of again. It was formerly roamed 
over by the Mescalaro Apache Indians, who, in some instances, cut ofi" 
entire trains. In the winter season it is visited by terrific storms of 
wind and snow, and men and animals are sometimes frozen to death 
while attempting to cross it. It has been named the " Journey of 
Death," because of the number of persons killed while crossing it. 



310 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

what collects in holes after a rain. Before the troops 
entered upon the Jornada some soldiers were sent aliead 
to search for water, but were only able to find a limited 
supply in holes at a place called Perrilla. Otermin now 
made a forced march of two da^^s and one night to La 
Cru^ de Onasa within seven leagues of Fray Cristoval, 
the northern terminus of the desert. From this place he 
sent forward all the soldiers, except a small camp guard, 
with the animals to the river. The next day they were 
brought back to camp to bring up the wagons and packs, 
and about sunset the same afternoon the army, with the 
trains, was encamped on the bank of the Del Norte. The 
troops were paraded and the priests ofi'ered up solemn 
thanks to God for the safe passage of the desert. 

The next day the march was continued up the river 
and at night they pitched the camp at Contadero. Here 
some trails of the enemy, both horse and foot, were seen, 
and the general ordered a squadron of forty soldiers and 
some Indians to be detailed the next morning to make a 
reconnoissance of the surrounding country ; and particu- 
larly to examine the .village of Cenecu,3 which was styled 
the first pueblo of the kingdom of New Mexico. They 
left camp at an early hour, being accompanied by Oter- 
min in person, several other officers and some of the 
priests. The pueblo of Cenecu was situated upon the 
West bank of the river, which was here crossed by ford- 
ing. As they approached they saw several traces of the 
enemy, but upon entering the village it was found to' have 
l)een abandoned. It presented the appearance of having 
•l)een attacked by the Indians and sacked. The church 
and convent were in ruins. The clappers had been taken 
from the bells in the church and cemetery ; and the 

:i A few miles North of Fray Cristoval, and is now in ruins. 



TH^ CONQU-Ji:ST OF NEW MEXICO. 311 

'Crosses erected in the cemetery and npon the piaza had 
been burnt. In the vestry the head and crown of a 
crucifix, and some "holy stones" were found lying upon 
the ground, having been desecrated by the " Apostate 
Apaches." A small brass cannon, used for the defence 
of the church, had been removed and thrown into the 
cemetery. The reverend father ordered the crosses found 
in the houses, the head and crown of tlie crucifix and all 
wooden ornaments of the altar to be collected and burnt, 
•and the consecrated stones thrown into the river, to 
prevent thern falling into the hands of the Indians. The 
bells were taken from the steeples and the cannon from 
the cemetery and placed in the wagons when the pue])lo 
was set on fire and entirely consumed. The party re.- 
crossed the river the same night and joined the main body 
of the army at Contadero. 

The next day, the 28th of November, the whole com- 
mand marched for the ruins of San Pascual which was 
passed, and the camp pitched six leagues beyond. ]\Iany 
signs of the enemy were seen, with traces of women and 
•children, the tr?£ils coming from the interior pueblos. 
Six abandoned stock-farms were passed, all of which had 
'i>een pillaged. That night Otermin made arrangements 
for the march of the army on the following day, and 
•afterward detailed a party of twenty Spaniards and some 
Indians to accompany him upon a reconnoissance of the 
surrounding country, and on a visit to the pueblo of our 
lady of Socorro. The troops continued up the river the 
next morning while the general and escort crossed over 
•on their way to Socorro.4 

This village stood upon a bluff bank about half a mile 

i This pueblo was situated near tlie present town of Socorro, in the 
county of the same name on the West bank of the Del Jlortc. 



3T2 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

from, the river, and had a beautiful and commanding- 
situation. Upon entering the town it was found to have 
been abandoned by the inhabitants, and afterward pillaged 
by the Indians. The church and convent were burnt and 
the clappers removed from the bells. The images, which 
had been concealed in a hole in the church at the time of 
the rebellion, had been removed and mutilated or de- 
stroyed, some being burnt to charcoal and otliers broken 
into pieces. Two human skeletons were found in the 
cloister of the convent. The plaza was barricaded by an 
adobe wall and palisade, and pieces of broken images and 
crosses were scattered over it. The houses had beeit 
sacked. In a field near by were found the lieads and 
bones of two dead bodies and some articles of clothing. 
The pueblo was set on fire and destroyed. Before ho 
re-crossed the river Otermin, with an escort of twelve sol- 
diers, visited a warm spring situated about a league from 
the village at the foot of the mountains.s He rejoined the 
army the same afternoon. ]\Iany of the broken images 
and other articles belonging to the church were taken to 
the Spanish camp and burnt under the direction of the 
priests. 

The following day the army marched to Las Vueltas del 
Socorro where it encamped. The road here was found 
to be very bad, and the soldiers were obliged to repair it 

3 The -warm spring -whicli Otermin visited in 1681, is pointed out 
near the to-wn of Socorro, and there can be no question of its identity. 
I visited it in the spring of 1854, and bathed in its limpid waters. They 
gush out from fissures in the rocks at the base of a mountain ridge, and 
after flowing a few yards fall into a pool about a foot and a half deep, 
and ten ox fifteen feet in diameter. The temperature is a little warmer 
than that of new milk, and pleasant to the person. It is said to pos- 
sess medicinal qualities of a character highly bfineficlal to personfi- 
alflictedwith rheumatic diseases. 



THE CONQUEST O'F NEW MEXICO. 313 

Before tlie wagons could get along. The only accident 
was the upsetting of one wagon. Passing only one night 
at this point, the Spaniards marched the next day to- 
Acomillo, passing through the pueblo of Agua Nueva. 
The former village was situated on an open space near 
the river, but had been abandoned by the inhabitants, and 
was partly in ruins. The general completed the work 
of destruction. They encamped near the pueblo and 
spent an unpleasant night in a severe rain storm. 

Continuing the fnarch up the river, over a road very 
diiScuit for wagons, the army reached SeboUita on the 
4th of December. Otermin rode in advance to examine 
the pueblo. He found it deserted and nearly destroyed, 
the inhabitants, througli fear of the Apaches, having 
joined the revolutionists in the interior of the country. 
Some of the timbers of tlie church had been used by the 
Indians to build an estufa for the worship of idols. Near 
the pueblo were several deep holes in which the enemy 
had concealed corn, pumpkins and earthen pots. They 
were covered with clay made up into an oval shape on 
which was figured the face of an Indian and the body of 
a toad. In the pueblo were found a great many dried 
herbs, pulverized, two pieces of human flesh, feathers, and 
several other articles used in their idolatrous worship. 
Some of these things the Indians esteemed very highly, 
and believed that by offering them to their Gods their 
corn v.^ould be preserved* 



514 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XL I. 



THE AEIIY REACHES THE TUEBLO OF ISLETA, WHICH IS TAKEN 
AFTER SLIGHT RESISTANCE. 

The array marched from Sebollita on the 5th of 
December to the Barrancas, where it encamped. From 
this phice Otermin, with an escort of sixtj men, Avent in 
advance the next day as far as the pueblo of Isleta.i He 
had sent spies into the mountains to look for smoke or 
some other sign that the pueblo was inhabited, who 
returned and informed him that they had seen smoke 
issuing from the chimneys. He arrived within sight of 
the pueblo early in the morning, and inmiediately formed 
his little command to make an attack. He divided it 
into four divisions, so as to make the assault from as 
nia.ny points; when, sounding the charge, the Spaniards 
rushed to the attack sliouting in a loud voice, as they 
advanced, praises " to the most holy sacrament." The 

1 The pueblo of Sebollita was situated on the East bank of the Del 
Norte, about twenty miles above Sorocco, and the Barrancas, near the 
present village of Los Lentes, both of which are now in ruins. Isleta, 
still in existence, is on the West bank of the river, about fifteen miles 
South of Albuquerque, and contains not more than three hundred 
Indiana. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 315 

Indians were on the alert, and when they saw the Span- 
iards approaching they raised their war-cry and flew to 
arms. They made but a feeble resistance. Seeing the 
plaza and quarters already in the possession of the soldiers 
before they had time to form for their defence, and also 
being assured by the general that they would be put to 
death if they did not surrender, they laid down their 
arms and submitted. 

Otermin, being in possession of the village, made an 
examination to see the amount of damage that had been 
done to it. He found the church and convent burnt, the 
crosses thrown down, and the body of the church had 
been converted into a corral in which a herd of cattle 
was confined. He caused the whole population, men, 
women and children, to be assembled upon the plaza, 
whom he reprimanded in severe terms. They denied 
being guilty of the destruction of ihc buildings, but laid 
it to the charge of the leaders of the rebellion, who had 
come down with the Taos, Picoris and Teguas Indians 
and burnt the church and everything else pertaining to 
Christian worship, and ordered the inhabitants to return 
to their heathen rites. The Indians were directed to 
deliver up everything belonging to the citizens or the 
church; and their dwellings were also searched that 
nothing might remain concealed. The articles found 
concealed were the box in which the consecrated host 
was kept, a belt worn by the priest, five small bells used 
in saying mass, four candlesticks, three large bells, 
(l^uried in the church), one missal and two other books, 
three horses, a copper kettle, a brass mortar, and other 
articles not enumerated. The property of the church 
was delivered to father Ayeta, and that of the citizens 
to the respective owners. The general ordered crosses 



316 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

to be erected upon the plaza and in the houses, and 
directed the Indians to wear small ones about the neck. 
The priests returned thanks for the successful termination 
of the fight. 

Before Isleta was taken two Indians made their escape, 
who were supposed to have been sent to notify the other 
pueblos of the approach of the Spaniards, and advise the 
inhabitants to fly. Upon being informed of this, Oterraiii 
dispatched two Sandia runners to the pueblos up the river 
to order the Indians, in his name, to remain in their 
houses, come to terms, and receive the gospel, or he 
would subdue them at the point of the bayonet. During 
the attack father Ayeta remained in the rear with the 
arm}', but as soon as he heard tlie village had fallen he 
set out for it. As he approached it he was met by the 
general and a large procession of men, women and chil- 
dren who had come ojiit to receive him. They escorted 
him in amid songs of praise, the reverend father liimself 
singing aloud, "Praise be the most holy sacrament and 
the purity of our Ladj^ the Virgin Mary, conceived 
without a stain of sin ;" to which the Indians responded, 
"Forever." Arrived in the pueblo the inhabitants em- 
braced him, after which the Ave Maria was sounded 
npon the trumpet, which the Indians repeated three 
times in a loud voice, and then quietly retired to their 
houses. 

At dawn the next morning religious exercises were 
held upon the plaza, attended by the governor, captain, 
and all the inhabitants of the pueblo. A portable altar, 
carried with the army, was erected in the middle of the 
square, and surrounded by the " most serene Virgin Mary, 
San Francisco and San Antonio." Father Ayeta preached 
to the Indians through an interpreter. He admonished 



THE CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 317 

lliem to turn from the path of apostacy, and again enter 
tlie fold of the church. After the sermon he gave them 
nbsokition for past offences in sight of God, and received 
them again into communion. Many children were bap- 
tised, the first one receiving the name of Charles, in honor 
of the king of Spain, and for whom Otermin stood 
sponsor. These exercises having been concluded the 
general ordered the royal flag to be raised, which was 
unfurled amid shouts of " Long live Don Carlos the 
Second I" from the soldiery, and loud vivas from the 
surrounding Indians. Three rounds of musketry were 
then fired, and the trumpets of the army pealed forth, 
their martial strains in honor of the occasion. The 
church-bells, after being purified of the desecration 
heaped upon them by the apostate Indians, were rung 
in loud and merry peals, when vespers were solemnized, 
which closed the ceremonies of the day. In the mean- 
time the army and the wagons had come up, and the 
whole force vras encamped at the pueblo. 

The following day was the anniversary of the "Pure 
conception of our Lady," when religious exercises were 
again lield. In the evening an altar was erected on the 
plaza and the Indians assembled around it, when High 
Mass Vv'as celebrated and father Ayeta preached a second 
sermon. These concluded, Otermin made an address to 
the inhabitants, in which he pointed out the great power 
of his master, the king, and explained to them the obe- 
dience tliat was due to him for all the blessings he had 
conferred upon them, and the more particularly because 
of the care he had of their souls. He pardoned c^ll in the 
name of his royal majesty, and the poor Indians appeared 
pleased with the clemency extended to them. 

The same day an Indian, who was charged with beino- 



318 THE COlv QUEST OF ^EW MEXICO. 

a sorcerer find wizzard, and had come from the ptieblos 
alcove to teach superstition and idolatry to those of the 
Soutli, was made prisoner. In order to obtain sufficient 
evidence to arraign him, Juan Dominguez de JMendoza, the 
lieutenant-general of cavalry, was dispatched with seventy 
picked men and a troop of Indians to make reconnoissance 
of the pueblos up tlie river. He was instructed by Oter- 
min as to the course he should take until the latter 
resumed the march and rejoined him. He was directed 
to visit the three pueblos of Alameda, Puara and Sandia, 
of the Teguas nation, and demand whether they intended 
to submit to the king and church, or make resistance. 
The Indian runners previously sent to these villages had 
not yet returned, and it was not known whether the 
inhabitants remained at home or had deserted to the 
rebels. 

The army still remained encamped at Isleta. The 
•general took tliis opportunity to collect a supply of corn, 
as the amount on hand was being rapidly consumed. 
Each house was rerpiired to furnisli one sack, and the 
whole quantity collected, when shelled, amounted to only 
fifteen ianegas, a part of wliich was ground for tlie soldiers. 
That year iiad been a season of great scarcity and very 
little corn had been raised North of that place. A great 
di'ought prevailed in the country, and, notwithanding the 
•witches had performed all sorts of incantations to propi- 
tiate their gods and induce them to send down rain, not 
a drop had fallen for a long time. The failure of the 
crop was given as a reason why many of the pueblos had 
been abandoned. Tlie suffering at some of the Northern 
pueblos was so great that the Indians of the Tanos, Teguas 
and Queres nations had combined with the pueblos of 
Acoma and Jemez to attack and destroy Isleta in order 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO, 319' 

to .get tlie corn in store there. When Otermin arrived 
only six days were wanting of the time when these North- 
ern Indians were to have made tlie attacls:. His advent 
was considered by the inhabitants as so ordered by Clod 
to save them and tlieir pneblo from destrnction. 

A soldier arrived at the camp on the night of the 9th 
with dispatches from j\Iendoza, bnt they contained nothing 
of interest. He bronght a few articles belonging to the 
church which had been captured from the Indians up the 
river, consisting of " a small brass crucifix, an image of our 
Lady, a chalice and patena, and the bottom* of a silver 
lamp without chains." Upon his request, the crucifix 
was presented to Otermin, by father Ayeta, as a precious 
relic. 

The next day the army intended to resume the march. 
The camp was raised and the wagons loaded preparatory 
to starting, but a storm of rain, snow and wind set in 
with such violence that the general was obliged to post- 
pone the march and re-encamp. The same evening an. 
Indian of the Teguas nation brought information to 
Otermin that tlie inhabitants of the pueblos of Sandia, 
Alameda and Puara were in the mountains perishing with 
cold and hunger, and desired permission to return to their 
villages. The messenger was treated with kindness, and 
directed to return and tell the chiefs of these pueblos to 
come down and have a talk, and that until some arrapge- 
ment could be made they must do the best they could. 
On the night of the 11th instructions were sent to Men- 
doza not to molest these Indians, but treat them well, 
and to receive and disarm all who should come in and 
give themselves up. 



■320 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



"THE SPANIARDS CONTINUE THEIR MARCH UP THE RIVER, 
AND THE CONDITION IN AVHICH THE PUEELOS Y/ERE 
FOUND. 

The Spaniards resumed the marcli on the morning of 
the 11th. After proceeding abont a league and a half 
tlie axle-tree and hounds of the cart M-hi(;h carried the 
portable altar broke, and thej were obliged to encamp to 
repair damages. In the night a furious storm of rain 
and sleet came on which continued until the next day, 
and as the troops were badly sheltered they suflered 
severely. They were benumbed and chilled by the 
cold, and were not in a condition to continue the march. 
Some of the men were hardly able to leave the camp- 
fires. During the day the cold increased and the storm 
raged with greater fury; snow began to fall and the 
neighboring mountains were covered witli it. The 
animals were so much broken dow]i by exposure to the 
storm and cold that they were not able to proceed. Under 
these circumstances Otermin determined to remain in 
camp until the storm should abate in order to give the 
wearied men and animals an opportunity to recruit. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICX). 321 

"While encamped at this place, the general received 
letters from Mendoza by the hands of two Indian runners, 
which gave an account of his march up the river. On 
arriving at the pueblo of Sandia he found it abandoned, 
but discovered man}^ articles used in their idolatrous 
worship which the inhabitants had left behind in their 
flight. Proceeding up the river he reached Alameda on 
the 9tli, which he also found deserted except by an old 
woman who was blind and too feeble to m.ake her escape. 
The woman, although a Teguas by birth, had been raised 
in a Christian family and spoke Spanish fluently. Upon 
being asked why the Indians had abandoned the village, 
she replied that it was because of the idolatrous worship 
they practiced, and the acts of treachery they had com- 
mitted, and for fear the Spaniards would punish them if 
they should fall into their hands. They had fled two 
days before the arrival of Mendoza. He also found a 
man suspended in one of the houses who had hung him- 
self for some unknown cause. The old woman was left 
in the pueblo wdth a supply of provisions for her support. 
She was instructed to inform her people when they 
should return, that unless they made peace and acknowd- 
edged the God of the Spaniards, not one stone of their 
pueblo would be left upon another, and that they would 
be all destroyed. 

On the hills near Puara the Indians made signals with 
smoke, and a horseman appeared and hailed the Span- 
iards, but upon being approached he fled toward Sandia, 
and was not seen again. They entered Puara which they 
also found abandoned. They discovered in it several 
articles used in the church • service, and a considerable 
quantity of corn, beans and salt. Near by the pueblo 
stood a cart loaded with wood, from which tlie Indians 
21 



322 THE CONQUEST OF HEW MEXICO. 

bad taken the oxen and fled upon the first intimation of 
Mendoza's approach. He now returned to Alameda. 
Here he found other articles of church pro];)erty which had 
been secreted at the time of the rebellion, besides a 
further supply of beans, corn and wild turkeys. In this 
neighborhood the meadows were yet green, and the corn 
fields filled with fodder, and wood was abundant upon the 
opposite side of the river. From this point ]\Iendoza 
wrote Otermin and advised that he should establish a 
camp, between this pueblo and Pnara, to allow the animals 
time to recruit upon the fine pastm'e that w^as to be had 
there, and recommended that a party of men should be 
sent forw\ard to secure the fodder then in the fields. Thi« 
letter concludes in the following manner, which exhibits the 
estimation in wdiich the priesthood was held in those 
times : " The reverend preacher, lather Lagosa is, in 
every particular, acting like an angel to my reverend 
missionary fray Francisco Ayeta whose hand I kiss and 
repeat my supplication in the name of father San Antonio 
to commend me to God." 

Otermin moved from his last camp on the 13th, to join 
]\Iendoza. The day was exceedingly cold, with a strong 
wand and severe hail storm prevailiug. Euin and deso- 
lation marked the line of march ; the farms had been laid 
waste and the buildings destroyed. The grain had been 
taken from the fields but the fodder was left standing. 
The march was conducted with great care ; scouts were 
throwai out in advance, and every other necessary precau- 
tion taken to prevent a surprise. One night a party of 
Indians made an attack upon the camp and attempted to 
run ofif the animals, which, had they succeeded, w^ould 
have left the Spaniards almost at the mercy of the 
enemy. Some soldiers and friendlj^ Indians sallied out 



'THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 323 

in defence of the animals, and succeeded in repulsing tli6 
assailants. 

While the troops were in march the general took a 
small escort and rode in advance to Alameda. He saw 
no Indians on the road, but found the buildings destroyed 
and the farms laid waste. He expected to find some of 
the inhabitants waiting here to hold a talk with him, but 
none had come down from the mountains whither they 
had fled upon hearing of the approach of the Spaniards. 
He had sent them word to meet him at this place, but 
fear kept them away. The pueblo was searched, and in 
it were found many articles used in their idolatrous wor- 
ship, such as a figure of the devil, herbs and feathers. 
An estufa had also been erected. These things were all 
destroyed by order of Otermin and father Ayeta. A 
considerable quantity of corn and beans was found, and 
what the animals did not consume was burnt. The old 
blind woman was still there, not being able to join her 
people, and the body of the dead man was hanging as 
]\Iendoza had left it. The pueblo was set on fire and 
completely destroyed. The army did not reach Alameda 
until late at night, and as there was no shelter for the 
troops they were obliged to bivouac in the open air. 
They had marched part of the day through a rain storm, 
and were drenched to the skin and shivering with cold. 

The Spaniards remained encamped at this place three 
days, during which time they suffered a good deal from 
the inclemency of the weather. The second night a 
severe storm came on, and the following morning the face 
of the whole country was covered with snow. The storm 
still contimied with great violence, and the weather was 
cold, and the snow deep. The general was greatly aifiicted 
with sore eyes and hardly in a condition to march, but he 



oM THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

determined to proceed, as he stood in fear of a surprise if 
lie remained here. He was also apprehensive that the 
river would freeze over, in which case it could only be 
crossed at great risk. 

Under these circumstances the march was resumed on 
the 16th, in a storm. They crossed to the East bank of 
the river with some difficulty, as there was no ford at this 
place, but they got over with no other mishap than one 
di* the wagons and the cart with the altar miring down. 
The whole command being safely across, the general, with 
a squadron of cavalry, marched in advance as far as the 
pueblo of Puara, about a league distant, which was found 
abandoned. Many trails were seen leading from the 
mountains, supposed to have been made by the Indians 
who had come down for corn. The beans and corn 
found in the pueblo were collected and consumed to pre- 
vent them falling into the hands of the enem}^ This 
occupied the greater part of the day, and at evening 
Otermin returned do^\ii the river and joined the main 
body of the army. 

The storm had now abated and the weather was clear 
again. The army being encamped only two leagues from 
Sandia, the general took an escort of twenty soldiers and 
some friendly Indians and marched in advance to that 
place. When the Indians heard of his approach they set 
fire to the pue])lo and iied, but he arrived so soon after- 
ward that the fire had not spread be^^ond the church and 
chapel. The Indians had destroyed or injured everything 
connected with Christian worship ; the church bells had 
been broken into several pieces, and the images of the 
saints disfigured. The church ornaments had been con- 
cealed in the houses. Two estufas had been erected in 
the pueblo, in which were found the articles used in the 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 325 

celebration of their heathen rites. The soldiers collected 
everything belonging to the church and as much corn as 
they could carry away, when they fired the houses which 
were entirely consumed. The day was thus spent in the 
work of destruction, and at night Otermin again retu.rned 
to the main body of the troops at their place of en- 
campment. 

The troops having undergone great fatigue of late, and 
both men and animals being much broken down, the 
general remained in camp a few days to give them time 
to recruit. Fresh meat was issued, and other necessary 
means taken to place them in the most serviceable condi- 
tion for a fnrther advance into the enemy's country. In 
the meantime a squadron of cavalry was dispatched to 
scour the surrounding country, with instructions to bring 
in some of the Indians dead or alive. While Otermin 
remained at this place Mendoza returned to camp, bring- 
ing in three Indians and two half-breeds, prisoners. The 
former had been captured, but the latter came down from 
the mountains and voluntarily surrendered themselves. 
The half-breeds said they had been impressed during the 
rebellion and compelled to join the rebels. They reported 
a large number of Indians in the mountains composed of 
all the nations in the province, among whom were the 
leading warriors of the pueblo of Cochiti, active men in 
the rebelhon, and that the pueblos were deserted. 

Otermin desiring to gain information as to the cause of 
the rebellion the previous year, now proceeded to organize 
a tribunal for the examination of the prisoners. He pre- 
sided as the examining court, assisted by the reverend 
father Ayeta, " commissioner of the holy order, attorney- 
general of both the canon and civil laws." Two soldiers, 
named Juan Lucero de Godoy and Juan Ruiz de Casares, 



32 (J THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

who understood the Indian tongue, were SAvorn as inter- 
preters. The prisoners were then brought before the 
tribunal ; but as they were heathens and could not be 
sworn until they had been first absolved, the rites of 
absolution were administered, when they took the oath 
and were examined in due form. As the result of this 
examination has been properly noticed in that part of 
the volume which treats of the breaking out of the 
rebellion, there is no necessity of my repeating it here. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 827 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



■MENDOZA JrAKES A RECONNOISSANCE IT THE RnEE TO 
COCHITI, AND WHAT TOOK PLACE THEEE ; THE AEJIY 
RETURNS TO EL PASO. 

We will now leave the main body of the Spaniards 
encamped near Sandia, and follow Mendoza in his 
march up the river. It will be borne in mind that he 
was ordei'ed bv Otermin, soon after the capture of Isleta, 
to take a proper escort and make a reconnoissauce of the 
pueblos further to the North. From Sandia he sent 
back runners with information that he had reached the 
pueblo of Puara, but no particular account of his expedi- 
tion was received until he returned and reported it in 
person. 

He took up the march from the camp of Otermin 
about vespers and proceeded that day to his own farm, 
three leagues below Alameda, where he encamped. He 
remained there a few hours to give his men time to warnl 
and refresh themselves, when he resumed the march far 
Alameda, which he entered the next morning about dawn. 
The condition in which the pueblo was found has already 
been mentioned in the last chapter. Thence he continued 
to Puara. As he drew near the pueblo smoke was seen 
issuing from the chimneys, a sm-e sign that it was iuhab- 



328 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

itecl, bat before lie could prevent It the inhabitants had^ 
set fire to the bouses and abandoned it. Several articles 
belonging to the church were found here, and some 
things used by the Indians in their worship, among 
which was a mask in the shape of the devil. From this 
place he marched to Sandia, which was also found aban- 
doned. The church and convent were both in ruins. 
The chapel of San Antonio was in good condition, the 
Indians having apparently preserved it to use in cele- 
brating their heathen rites. Three cells of the convent 
had not been injured, one of which had been converted 
into a blacksmith shop. Tlie only person in the pueblo 
was an old blind man, who was duly confessed and 
absolved by one of the priests. 

Mendoza continued his march further up the river to 
San Felipe, which was also abandoned, the inhabitants 
having gone to Cochiti. The roof was off the church* 
and the convent demolished. He found several articles 
of church property concealed in the houses, such as an 
incensory, the box for the consecrated wafers, and pieces 
of broken crosses ; besides many things belonging to the 
idolatrous worship of the Indians. In the middle of the 
plaza were piles of stones, around which they had wor- 
shipped. The church-bell was found lying upon the river 
bank with a hole broken in it. Thence he marched 
to Santo Domingo,! where he likewise found the church 
and convent in ruins. Near the convent wa,s a large 
pile of stones where the Indians made offerings to the 
devil, and celebrated other rites of idolatry. The houses 

were searched, and in them were found considerable 

. A 

1 This pueblo is situated upon the bank of the Del Norte, a few miles 
above San Felipe, and differs in no essential particular from the other 
pueblos described. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 329 

•property belonging to the Spaniards. In the honses 
of Catite and Zepatero were discovered the writing-desks 
of the priests, and other articles of church property. 

He next marched to the pueblo of Cochiti, a few 
leagues higher np the river. He passed several pieces 
of broken crosses and two large copper .kettles upon the 
road. On arriving in the vicinity of the pueblo he sent 
a party of soldiers forward to reconnoitre, which returned 
in a short time and reported the village deserted. In 
the meantime the Indians made their appearance upon a 
hill near by, and challenged the Spaniards to combat; 
but, as it was then nearly dark, Mendoza declined en- 
gaging with them. He now marched his command np to 
the pueblo, where he found an abundance of provisions 
and secure quarters for both men and animals. Fearing 
an attack in the night, a strong guard was stationed 
around the village, the horses were kept saddled, and the 
men forbidden to leave the main plaza. 

Early the next mOrning Mendoza made the proper 
disposition of his forces to give battle to the enemy. 
Before leaving the pueblo they were drawn up in front 
of the priest, who absolved and blessed them, and ad- 
monished them to cleanse their hearts of sin before 
engaging in deadly strife. The Indians, meanwhile, had 
assembled about a league from the pueblo upon a hill 
where they had thrown up a slight breastwork. The 
Spaniards advanced toward them, and when they drew 
nigh the enemy raised their war-cry and made prepara- 
tions to beo-in the attack. To avoid the sheddino; of blood 
Mendoza stepped forward and sounded a parley. Helfcld 
them that the king, their master, had pardoned them for 
past oifences. Catite now approached and inquired of 
]\Iendoza why the Spaniards had come there; to which 



S30 THE CONQUEST OF NEW 'MEXICO. 

he replied that they had come in search of him and other 
Indians in order to save their souls. The chief admitted 
that he had done much harm, but declined to make peace. 
The priest next besought the Indians to turn from their 
apostacyand submit to the will of the church. While this 
proceeding was going on, the war-cry was again sounded, 
but Catite commanded his followers to be silent, and they 
obeyed. After a good deal of time spent in parleying, the 
Indians promised to make peace and return to the church, 
when the officers and chiefs embraced each other in ap- 
parent friendship. 

That night the Indians received large reinforcements 
from various quarters, and they now numbered about one 
thousand warriors, of whom more than a hundred were 
mounted. The next morning they approached the Span- 
iards formed in a half circle, with the intention of 
surrounding them. They advanced shouting their war- 
cry with every indication of making an attack. Mendoza 
made proper disposition to receive them, and was upon 
the point of beginning the fight, when Antonio Guerra, 
through an interpreter, sounded a parley in the Queres 
language and stopped the shedding of blood. A brother 
of Catite, a war-chief among the rebels, now came forward 
and announced that the Indians were prepared for peace. 
The priest exhorted them to lay down their arms and 
return to their duty to the king and the church and 
become- good Christians and peaceful citizens. To this 
Catite responded in person, and asked in the name of 
" God, the holy Mary and all the saints," that peace might 
be "ranted them; which was done accordingly. The 
treaty, on the part of the Indians, was ratified by the 
chief kissing the foot of the priest, and shedding tears, 
.when peace was announced as concluded. The Indians 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 331 

assembled upon the occasion belonged, principally, to the 
Teguas, Tanos, and Queres nations. 

Catite asked that a day and a half might be granted 
him to bring in the Indians of the pueblos of Cochiti, 
Santo Domingo, and San Felipe, promising to return at 
the end of that time. He said the Indians had nothing 
to fear in returning, as they had not caused the rebellion, 
which was the work of the Spaniards. The other chiefs 
also requested permission to inform their respective 
pueblos of the treaty that had been made. Time and 
permission were accordingly given, when the Indians 
took their departure, except one chief, and two casiques, 
one of the Teguas nation and the other of the pueblo of 
Cia, who had been selected to remain with Mendoza. 

The next day Mendoza sent a friendly Indian, named 
Tano, to notify the six nations to come in and arrange 
the terms of a permanent peace. He carried a letter to 
the cacique of Cia, and was also charged to cause crosses 
to be erected in the houses of the people of that nation, 
and along the road, in place of those torn down. It was 
now time for the return of Catite and the other chiefs, 
but as they did not appear Mendoza was well convinced 
that their professions of peace were feigned and not real. 
When the Indians made terms with the Spaniards it was 
snowing hard, and their bow-strings were wet and un- 
serviceable, and they were quite in the power of the 
soldiers ; and their submission was only a ruse to gain 
time in order to extricate themselves. Mendoza remained 
at Cochiti three days longer, to afford the Indians ample 
time to fulfil their promise in case they were disposed to 
do so. In the meantime an Indian from the pueblo of 
Cia, named Pupiste, came to the Spanish camp with a 
cross around his neck, as the representatfve of tliat pueblo 



332 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

and Santa Ana, and reported tlie people of these two« 
villages as willing to submit and make peace. About the 
same time a Teguas Indian was sent to the pueblos of 
Sandia, Puara and x4.1ameda, with directions to invite the 
people of his nstion to appear at the camp of Otermin at 
the same time the other Indians were to present them- 
selves. 

Mendoza, now satisfied that the hostile chiefs did not 
intend to return, took up the march from Cochiti to rejoin 
Otermin. The first day he encamped near the pueblo of 
San Felipe. In the night two Indian spies came into 
camp, who, upon being made prisoners and questioned, 
confessed the object of their visit. They informed 
lilendoza that the main body of the Indians had followed 
him for the purpose of making an attack and running ofl^* 
his animals, and that they were then in San Felipe 
waiting for an opportunity to put their plan into execu- 
tion. One pf the spies had formerly been a servant of 
Francisco Javier, who said that his friendship for the 
Spaniards induced him to make the confession. The 
Indians were under the command of one Louis of Picoris 
who had invited Catite to assist him. Upon receiving 
this information, Llendoza determined to anticipate the 
Indians and make an attack upon them in San Felipe ; 
but upon laying the matter before a council of war, the 
officers decided against it, and they resolved only to stand 
upon the defensive. The enemy made no attack and the 
night passed away in quietness in the Spanish camp. The 
next morning the march was resumed, and in due season 
the lieutenant-general rejoined Otermin after an absence 
of eleven days. 

We took our leave of the general and the main body 
of the army at th'e close of the last chapter, while in camp 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 333 

just below the pueblo of Sandia. He remained there from 
the 16th to the 22d of December, occupied, principally, in 
investigating the cause of the rebellion, but meanwhile 
he gained other important information. Tlie first In- 
dian examined was a native of Tezuqne, named Juan, 
who made known a plan the Indians had formed to cut 
off the detachment of Mendoza, and which they were only 
prevented carrying into eflect by the watchfulness of the 
Spaniards. The attack was to have been made the same 
night this Indian came in and surrendered himself, and 
being thus put on their gnard they remained under arms 
all night. The plan had been arranged by Catite, and 
was as follows : The young women of the pueblo of La 
Cienegia2 were to wash and dress themselves in their most 
comely attire, and go to the Spanish camp. While the 
soldiers were seduced from their duty, and in dalliance 
with the Indian maidens, the Teguas and Picorisa warriors 
were to drive off the animals, and those of the Queree 
and other pueblos were to attack the camp and put the 
Spaniards to death. The excuse the girls were to give 
for entering the camp, was, that they came to bring dinner 
to the soldiers.' Catite himself was to go to the camp 
and hold a talk with the Spaniards, and when he should 
give the war-cry his confederates w^re to rush to the 
attack. The arrangement was made in council when the 
Indians first heard of the approach of Mendoza, and in all 
probability the timely warning of Juan, the Tezuque 
Indian, saved them from destruction. Another prisoner 

2 Sometimes spelled Cienegnilla. 

3 Situated la Taos county, a few miles East of the Del Norte, apiono- 
the mountains. It is a little village, and the inhabitants have inter- 
married with the Jicarilla Apaches. The population is small and 
bears a bad reputation. 



334 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

testified that he saw the Indian girls wash and dress 
themselves for the occasion, and they were only deterred 
from going to the Spanish camp by seeing a party of 
soldiers coming toward the pueblo. 

In the meantime Otermin had changed his camp. The 
location near Sandia was much exposed to the cold, and 
the troops suffered a great deal in consequence. Pasture 
and fodder had almost entirely failed, and the soldiers 
were obliged to haul their wood a league at great risk of 
being attacked by the Indians. For these reasons he 
removed his camp to the hacienda of Louis de Carravajal 
one league below the pueblo, and a much more favorable 
location. 

The general now summoned a council of war to deter- 
]nine upon the course to be pursued, wliich assembled at 
camp on the 2od of December. Each officer was requested 
to hand in his views in-' writing, and there was great 
diversity of opinion. Some were in favor of advancing 
at all hazards, while others advised an immediate retreat. 
The majority, however, recommended that the army fall 
back to the pueblo of Isleta, which had asked for protec- 
tion. Father Ayeta was requested to take a seat in the 
council, which -he declined, but gave his opinion at some 
length in writing, -jyhich was received with great con- 
sideration. He advised that the expedition should be 
immediately abandoned and the army return to San 
Lorenzo, for the reasons that the Indians were not 
disposed to make peace, and the force was too small to 
compel them to do so ; that it was near mid-winter and 
the weather intensely cold; that the men from long 
exposure were hardly able to do duty, and the horses and 
other animals were too much broken down to proceed. 

It was resolved, in the first instance, to fall back upon 



THE CONQUEST 6F I>fEW MEXICOi 335 

Isleta. The march of the troops was hastened by the 
arrival of a messenger from that place with information 
that a party of fifty mounted Indians, headed by Louis 
Tupata, had appeared before the pueblo and threatened 
to burn it unless abandoned by the inhabitants. The 
general immediately sent sergeant-major Louis Granillo 
with twenty soldiers to protect the place until his arrival, 
and the same day he followed with the army. He marched 
with great caution, scouring the country with scouts as 
lie advanced. 

Upon his arrival at Isleta Otermin determined to con- 
tinue on to El Paso, and he remained at the pueblo only 
long enough to recruit the men and animals, collect pro- 
visions and make other necessary preparations for the 
march. In examining into the condition of the animals 
it appeared that of the whole number of nine hundred and 
seventy-five horses, v^ath which he had left San Lorenzo 
in November, eight hundred and fifty were still alive, of 
which only one hundred and thirty-six were fit for service. 
When the Spaniards had first entered Isleta it contained 
a population of more than five hundred, but at the time 
of their return there were but three hundred and eighty- 
five of all ages, the remainder having joined the rebels 
and returned to their idolatrous worship. The inhabit- 
ants remaining determined to accompany tlie army; and 
after they had taken out their goods, and provisions for 
the march, the pueblo was set on fire and burnt, with 
over a thousand fanegasi of corn and a large quantity of 
beans. The troops left Isleta on the 2d of January, 
1682, and arrived at El Paso on the 11th of February, 
having lost nearly one-fourth of the animals upon the 
march. 

4 About twenty-two hundred bushels. 



336 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO 



CHAPTER XLIV.i 



DON DIEGO DE J'AEGAS SUCCEEDS 0TER3IIN AND MARCUEE 
FOR THE KE-CON QUEST OF NEW ]MBXICO ; HIS EXPEDI- 
TION TO TAOS. 

Seveeal years elapsed, after the failure of Otermin to 
subdue the rebellious inhabitants and to re-conquer New 



; I found among the old archives, iu the secretary's office, at Santr. 
Fc, evidence that au effort was made, after the faikire of Otermin, and 
before Vargas, to re-conquer New Mexico. An expedition was in- 
trusted to one Domingo Jironza Petriz de Cruzate, who was appointed 
captain-general of the .province. He must have entered the country 
at two different periods, from the records in my possession. In 1G8S 
the viceroy of New Spain, Don Gaspar de Saniga, count of Monterey, 
sent Cruzate into New Mexico iu command of an expedition, and 
among others he was accompanied by Don Renero de Pasada, anc* 
Juan de Onate, a .brave soldier. Ouate took with him seventy Fran- 
ciscan friars, among whom was one Marcos de Niza, a native of the 
province. The latter said he had made a visit to Zuni, called the 
Buflalo province, during the reign of Philip II. At the first arrival of 
himself and people in New Mexico, the inhabitants were much sur- 
prised, being astonished at seeing white men, and at first believed 
them to be Gods, and reported them as such. After the surprise had 
worn off, a cruel war broke out, the governor and most of the priests 
being killed, a few only escaping to the pueblo of El Paso. Among 
those who escaped was a Franciscan friar, who went to Mexico and 
carried with him an imasre of our Lady of Macana, which was pre- 
served for a long time in the convent of that city. 



"THE COXQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 337 

^lexico, before another attempt of the kind "svas made. 
JMeanwhile the Indians remaineil in undisturbed posses- 
sion of the CGiintry, and were fast relapsing into their 
barbarous manners and customs. The vice-re2;al 2.0V- 
ernment of Mexico now determined to send another 
expedition into the country, and in 1G92 the count 
Galvas, the viceroy, by and with the advice and consent of 

Cruzate was in New JMexico as early as the-2(jtb of November, IGSa, 
at which time he was in the pueblo of San Antonio of Sinolu, [sup- 
posed to be the same as Cenecu,] on a visit to the civilized Indians. 
Upon this occasion the Indians were assembled in the plaza, where he 
held a talk with them, and among other things he communicated to 
them the following as the orders of the king, their master : "That thej' 
should respect and venerate the churches, and attend Mass punctually 
every Sunday and feast day ; that the governors, captains and fiscals 
should pay partfcular attention in seeing that no person failed to do so, 
and not to permit idolatrous dances and other abases in the pueblos ; 
to see that all married men are faithful to their wives, and to prevent 
them living separately as tfcey are accustomed to do .; and for the pre- 
servation of health they should sleep in the second story, and all the 
men, women and children should keep on their necks their crosses and 
rosaries, and all should have crosses placed over the doors of their 
houses. Every head of a family should keep tea hens and one chicken 
cock of Castile, and if possible should raise turkeys for the support of 
their families. They should treat the ministers of the gospel with love 
and friendship, and observe the greatest respect toward them ; and 
whenever they meet them they should kiss the hem of their habit with 
submission «nd veneration. The children of both sexes should be 
made to say their pjayers every night in their houses before retiring to 
rest. All the natives able to bear arms shall keep their bows in good 
order, and have ready, at least, ten arrows each to defend themselves 
v/ith, and also to offend the enemy; and none shall dare use the arms 
of the Spaniards, for the reason that they are prohibited from using 
them by royal ordinances." 

I have only been able to obtain a fragment of the journal of Cruzate, 

and cannot learn from it the result of his expedition ; but conclude he 

failed to reduce the Indians to subjection, as this work was afterward 

intrusted to Vargas. The records at Santa Fo' state that he wa^s 

■ captain-g'?neral in the years IC-S-i, 1G85, 1G8S and 1689. 

22 



338 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

the royal audience, appointed Don Diego de Vargas Zapatit 
Lnjan to the command, with the rank of governor and 
captain-general. He immediately entered upon the dis-* 
charge of his new duties. Helinquishing the pleasures 
and pursuits of home, he set out for El Paso del ]N"orte, 
the place at which he was to orgiinize his command, 
where he arrived some time in the summer of the same 
year. All the available troops at this post were ])laced 
at his disposal, and every other assistance was rendered 
liim. His force consisted of two hundred mounted Span- 
iards, and less than half that number of friendly Indians; 
with which he took up the line of march for the North 
on the 31st of August. He was accompanied by several 
priests, who were charged with the re-conversion of 
those who had fallen from the true faith. «He appears to 
have been impressed with the inadequacy of the force 
given him for the re-conquest of the country, and before 
he marched from El Paso he wrote the viceroy for a 
reinforcement of fifty soldiers, who were to be sent for- 
Avard by the lieutenant-governor, in charge of an officer 
who remained behind for tluit pui-pose. 

Vargas was sensible of the difficulties and dangers to 
be encountered with the small force under his comniand. 
In a letter written to the viceroy, on the eve of marching, 
he says : " I determined to risk life and all in the attempt, 
and prepared rather to be considered rash, to being looked 
upon as a man of too much caution, thereby exposing my 
reputation to remarks." He and his little band of gal- 
lant followers pursued their hazardous march up the 
valley of the Del Norte, through a country swarming 
with a numerous and incensed enemy. We have no 
record of the march until they arrived in the vicinity of 
Santa Fe, on the 12tli of September. 



THE CONQUEST OP NT3W MEXICO. 33^ 

The Indians had received notice of the march of tlic 
'Spaniards, and, from time to time, their runners reported 
'their progress. When they came within striking distance 
of Santa Fd, and it was known that that was to be the 
point of attack, the inhabitants "of the surrounding pueblos 
turned out to assist their brethren to repel the assault. 
The Indians were seen coming in great numbers across tlic 
•different mesas and down tlie sides of the mountain into 
the valley. Vargas now determined, if possible, to pre- 
vent these reinforcements uniting v>dth the garrison of the 
town ; for which purpose he sent nearly all his force 
against the former, retaining only a sufficient number to 
hold the latter in check in case they should make a sortie 
against him. The enemy, hov/ever, effected a junction 
of their forces in spite of the pains taken to prevent it ■: 
and the movement, intended to compass the defeat of tlie 
Indians, well nigli led to the destruction of the Spaniards. 
The eneni}'-, seeing the Spanish forces thus divided, sallied 
■out to the attack with their united strength, on the 13tk 
of September, at four o'clock in the morning. The action 
lasted nearly all day, and it was not until three o'clock in 
the afternoon that the Indians began to give v»^ay. Both 
sides fought with great determination and braverj^, and 
the Indians exhibited the most ]>itter hatred of the 
Christians. In the midst of the fight they taunted them 
■with having run away from tliem before, but said they 
w^ould not escape this time. A^argas greatly distinguished 
himself in the action, and when the occasion required lie 
would ride far ahead of his troops to reconnoitre the 
■enemy and the country. The Spaniards marched into 
and took possession of the town the same evening, and 
the troops, wearied with their arduous march and the 
-fatigue of battle, found comfortable quarters for a seasoi-i 



MO ' THE CONQUEST OF KEvY MEXICO. 

ill the antique dwellings of the enemy. The number ot 
the killed and wounded is not given, but IVoin the length 
of time the action lasted, and the bravery with which the 
Indians fought, the loss must have been heavy. 

With the fall of Santa Fe the pueblos in tlie vicinity^ 
twelve in number, made submission, and were visited and 
taken possession of in the name of the king of Spain. As 
was the custom in those days with Spanish conquerors, 
all over the world, as soon as the pueblos had been 
brought to military subjugation, they were delivered over 
to the pious zeal of the priests for the purpose of being 
reduced to spiritual obedience. There were baptised, be^ 
sides the children who had been born and lived during 
the rebellion, seven hundred and sixty-nine persons, all of 
whom were received into the bosom of the church. 

From Santa Fe Vargas wrote the viceroy an account 
of the capture of the town, and reduction of the neigh- 
borino- villa«:es. From this letter we are informed of the 
■ number of families and soldiers necessary to hold the 
country, as w^ell as the difiiculty to be anticipated in 
reducing the Indians to a condition of peace. He says : 
"In order to hold these provinces it is necessary to 
establisli garrisons in them, and to attempt to send lesH 
than five hundred families and a hundred soldiers, would 
])e like throwing a grain of salt into the sea. This 
number can be had counting with one hundred families 
that are in El Paso del Eio del Norte, and fifty soldiers in 
that garrison, and which may be added to the number 
your Excellency and the Eoyal Junta may procure. 
Without this they can never be reduced, for it would be 
much easier to convert the Jews without the inquisition, 
than to induce the Indians to leave their country and 
place of abode." He recommended that blacksmiths, 



• THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 341 

carpenters and miners shonld be sent from tlie jails of 
Qiieretero, Zacatecas and Rosario, and that tlie families 
.should come from Paso del Norte, as being the best 
adapted to the country. He further states that he was 
then preparing to march against some of the adjoining 
provinces, and that he would induce them to embrace 
" Our Holy Faith," or raze their villages to the ground, 
and, as he terms it, " thus punish their obstinacy." i\.fter 
these people shall have been reduced, he says that he will 
declare war upon the Queres and Jemez nations and then 
make a visit into the country of the Zufii and Moqui 
Indians to see how they stand affected toward the 
Spaniards. • 

Havino; established order in Santa Fe and the sur- 
rounding pueblos, Vargas made preparations to subdue 
some of the more distant villages, in accordance with the 
plan he had marked out. The Indians of the Taos 
pueblo, who dwelt in a beautiful and fertile valley some 
seventy-five miles to tlie North, continued to be very 
hostile toward their brethren who were disposed to 
jicknowledge the authority of the Spaniards, and Vargas 
liad been recpiested by the Tanos, Teguas and some of 
the Picoris Indians, to exterminate them. He marched 
for that pueblo on the 5th of October, leaving a sufficient 
garrison in Santa Fe to defend the town in his absence. 
He reached San Juan the same afternoon, eight leagues 
distant, and on his approach to the village he was met by 
a large body of warriors under the command of Don Lo- 
renzo, their war-captain. The Spaniards were formed in 
line in martial array, with the royal ensign flying, and the 
Indians were received with the usual military honors. 
He explained to them that the object of his coming was 
to re-establish the authority of his master, the king of 



342' THE COJsQUEST OF K^EW MEXIC0-. 

Spain, and tliat he was accompanied by priests wlio ■would' 
absolve them of the great sin they had committed iri 
abandoning the CathoHc rehgion. Tliey were ordered tO' 
erect crosses in the pneblos as emblems of submission. 
During the day father Francisco Corvera baptised eighty- 
six persons of all ages and both sexes, the captain-general 
standing godfather for a daughter of Captain Lorenzo, 
and several otliBr children. The Indians made professions 
of peace, and appeared entirely friendly. 

The next morning the Spaniards resumed the march 
in a storm of rain and snovf. They encamped that night 
Jet the foot of the mountains, which they crossed the next 
day without accident, and descended into the valley of 
Taos. The march was conducted with great cauti'on to 
prevent their approach being discovered by the enemy, 
but when fairly down in the valley they advanced rapidly, 
the governor leading them in a gallop. When within 
about four leagues of the pueblo they halted and made 
the necessary arrangements for the attack. It was ordered 
that the squadron of El Paso should surround one of the 
two large buildings of which the pueblo consisted, while 
the balance of the forces, with the exception of the reserve 
under the command of the general in person, which was- 
to act as the emergency might require, surrounded tliQ' 
other. Tliis disposition having been made, father Corvera 
administered absolution to the command, when they again 
took up the line of march. Upon reaching the pueblo- 
they assaulted the two bidldings which they secured, with 
the entrenchments and all the defences, but found them 
deserted, and not an enemy was to be seen. 2 

2 The pueblo of Taos is situated in the valley of the Del Norte, about 
seventy five miles to the North of Santa Fc, and is the best sample 
extant of the ancient villages. It consists of two large adobe budlding&;h 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 343 

Looking: toward the East smoke was seen ascendmff 
amoDg the mountains, which was supposed to proceed 
from the Indian encampment. The general dispatched 
Louis, a Picoris Indian, with his brother and people to 
ascertain the cause of the smoke, intending to follow him- 
self, with the troops, as soon as the animals came up and 
he could obtain a change of horses. In the course of an 
hour one of the scouts returned with information that the 
smoke was caused by the. Taos Indians, who were en- 
camped in the gorge of the mountains, and had sentinels 
posted upon some of the highest peaks. Upon receiving 
this intelligence Vargas immediately marched for the 
mountains without waiting for the fresh horses. As he 
fipproached one of the rebels came forward and hailed 
him in Spanish, and in reply as to whom he was, he said 
he was called the Spaniard. The governor held a parley 
with him, and reproved liim because he and his people 
had deserted their villages and fled to the mountains. 
The Indian was directed to communicate with his brethren 
in the name of the captain-general, and was instructed to 

between three and four hundred feet in length, and about an hundred 
and fifty wide at the base, situated upon opposite sides of a small creek. 
They are five or six stories high, each story recediug from the one 
below it, and thus forming a terraced structure from top to bottom. 
Each story is divided into numerous little compartments, the outer 
tiers of rooms being lighted by small windows in the sides, while those 
in the interior of the building are dark, and are principallj'- used for 
store-rooms. The only means of entrance is through a trap door in 
the roof, and you ascend, from story to stor}^ by ladders upon the 
outside, which are drawn up at night, and the population sleep secure 
from attack from without. In these two buildings there liva some 
eight hundred persons as one large family. ' A little way removed is 
the estufa, built partly under ground, and which is used both as a 
council chamber and a place where they practice such of their heathen 
rites as still exist among them. It is esteemed a consecrated place, 
£cnd severed as such. 



M4 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO^ 

give assurance that lie was authorized by the king o.? 
Spain to pardon them if they would come down and. 
return to their pueblo. He also bade him say that the 
Holy Vu-gin was upon the flag, and the reverend father 
who was with them would bring; them back asain to 
Christianity. He returned with these peacefid messages 
to the rebel camp, and that his words might have more 
eifect, a rosary was suspended around his neck. 

Shortly after this messenger had left, six other Indians 
approached around a point of the mountain. As they 
drew near they laid down their arms in token of peace, 
when Vargas dismounted and embraced and " gave them 
his hand. They appeai-ed rejoiced with this friendly 
salutation. Two of their number were dispatched to 
bring down their people ; and they had not been absent 
a great while, when a large number of Indians were seen 
approaching with the chief, Francisco Pacheco, at their 
head. Vargas received them kindly, and explained to 
them the object of his visit. He desired them to return 
to their houses and live peaceably, promising that they 
should not be molested by the soldiers ; and accordingly 
most of them proceeded to the pueblo, a few only remain- 
ing in the mountains to take care of their property. The 
difficulty, between the inhabitants of Taos and the Teeuas. 
Tanos and Picoris Indians was also amicably adjusted, 
and they embraced each other, and expressed great 
pleasure at being friends again. Toward evening the 
remainder of the Indians, with the women and children, 
came down to the pueblo, and saluted the Spaniards 
by shouting in a loud voice, "Blessed be the Almighty !'^ 
The next morning the troops and Indians were assembled 
in the plaza, M'hen Vargas explained to them more fully 
the reason of his coming among them, and impressed 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 345 

upon tlieni the duty of obedience to the king and priests. 
They were absolved of the sin of aj)ostacy, and ninety-six,: 
of all ages and both sexes, were baptised and received 
into the church. The samie afternoon two of the young, 
]nen of the Taos pueblo returned from the province of 
Zuiii with information of a conspiracy among the Moquis, 
Jemez, Q acres, Pecos, Faraon Apaches and the Coninas 
Indians, against the Spaniards. Tliey had attended a 
large council of these Indians on the road, and were 
made acquainted with their plans. The rebels were to 
waylay the Spaniards, in large numbers, as they were 
marching through the country, run off their animals, and, 
if possible, put the soldiers to death ; and they were col- 
lecting their provisions and making other necessary 
arrangements to carry their plans into execution. This 
news was communicated to Vargas by a Taos chief named 
Pedro Pacheo, and he immediately determined to make 
an expedition into the country of the conspirators and 
chastise tliem. He informed the Indians present of his. 
intention, and invited the young men, who could come 
well armed and mounted, to accompany him, telling them 
that those whom he was about to make war upon were 
as much their enemies as they were of the Spaniards. 
Many agreed to join the expedition, and pledged them- 
selves to meet him at Santa Fe in eight days from that 
time, properly prepared. 

Vargas left Taos to return to Santa Fe on the 9th of 
October, and that night reached camp Miranda. The 
next day he marched to the pueblo of Picoris, where the 
inhabitants gave him a friendly welcome. From this 
place he dispatched two runners to Pecos to notify the 
inhabitants of that pueblo to meet him in Santa Fe.. 
They carried with them, as emblems of their peaceful. 



346 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

mission, two wooden crosses more than a varas long, and 
a third painted on white paper. He reached El Embudo, 
at the South base of the mountain, on the 11th, where 
he encamped for the night. He rested at San Yldefonso 
on the 12th, and reached Santa Fe on the following day. 
The expedition was entirely successful, and Yargas re- 
turned to his capital without the loss of a 'man. 

;3 A Spanish measure of thirty-three and one-third inches in length. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 347 



CHAPTER XLV. 



VARGAS MARCHES TO SUBDUE THE PUEBLOS OF PECOS, CIA 
AND JEMEZ. 

The Northern Indians being now in a state of peace, 
Vargas liad leisure to turn liis attention to those who still 
manifested hostility. These were the Queres, Pecos and 
Jemez Indians. Upon his return to Santa Fe, from 
Taos, he remained in the capital no longer than was 
necessary to make preparations for the proposed cam- 
paign. He had recently received reinforcements from 
Parral which would enable 'him to operate with more 
vigor against the enemy. He decided to march to the 
pueblo of Pecos in the first instance, and after having 
chastised that village, if it should be found necessary he 
would proceed against those West of the Del Norte. 

In the unsettled state of the country, he deemed it 
advisable to appoint some suitable person to govern the 
conquered pueblos in his absence, and to this important 
duty he called a Picoris Indian named Don Louis. The 
chiefs being assembled, the oath of office was duly admin- 
istered to the newly appointed governor upon a cross, 
when a staff was delivered to him, with instructions how to 
govern his actions in any case of emergency. Before he 



348 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

marched Vargas dispatched two squadrons of mounted; 
men, two pieces of artillery, the pack animals, with the 
friendly Indians and captives, to Santo Domingo to await 
his return from Pecos. 

Having completed the necessary arrangements for the 
campaign, he took up the line of march for Pecos, with 
the balance of the troops, on the 17th of October, accom- 
panied by two priests, fathers Corvero and Barros. The 
war-captain and governor of the Santa Fe pueblos had 
intended accompanying him, but on account of the un- 
favorable state of the weather they were obliged to remain 
at home to take care of their crops. Vargas directed his 
march across the mountains to the East, and about two 
o'clock of the same afternoon he entered Pecos, i The 



1 Pecos was situated twenty-five miles South of East trom Sauta Fe, 
on a small tributaiy of the river of the same name. In the time of 
Vargas it contained a population of about fifteen hundred, but now is 
entirely in ruins. A few years ago the remnant of the Pecos Indians 
left their pueblo and joined (he people of Jemez who speak the same 
language. There houses and lands were given them. 

Many curious tales are related of the superstitious customs of the 
Pueblos, among which is the following told of the Pecos Indians. It 
is said that Montezuma kindled a sacred fire in the estufa of that pueblo 
and commanded that it should be kept burning until he came back to 
deliver them from the Spaniards. He was expected to appear with the 
rising "sun, and every morning the Indians ascended to the house tops 
and strained their eyes looking to the East for the appearance of their 
deliverer and king. The task of watching the sacred fire was assigned 
to the warriors, who served, by turns, for a period of two days and two 
nights without eating or drinking, and some say that they remained 
upon duty until death or exhaustion relieved them. The remains of 
those who died from the effect of watching are said to have been car- 
ried to the den of a great serpent, which appears to have lived upon 
such delicacies. The tradition, that the sacred fire was kept burning 
until the village was abandoned, is generally believed by both Indians 
and Mexicans ; but their great deliverer never came, and when the fire 
went out, from what cause is not known, the survivors of Pecos found 
new homes West of the Rio Grande. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 349 

ludians having heard of his coming, awaited his arrivaL 
Thej had erected a large cross, and arches, at the en- 
trance to the pueblo, where they received him, singing 
the Alabado2 in full chorus. The troops were conducted 
to the main plaza and afterward to the quarters prepared 
for them. The whole population rendered their submis- 
sion, after which they were absolved of past offences, 
and two hundred and fortj'-eight liaptised, the captain- 
general standing godfather for a child of the sexton. The 
next morning he held a talk with the Indians, and at their 
request he appointed a governor, alcalde, and war-captain 
for the pueblo, who were duly qualified and entered upon 
the discharge of their duties. 

That evening Vargas marched for Santo Domingo. 
He struck across the mountains to the South-west, and 
about nine o'clock at night reached the Galisteo in a 
storm of rain and hail. Here he encamped. This pueblo 
was found in ruins and deserted. The next day, beino- 
Sunday, Mass was celebrated, and afterward the troops 
resumed the march. In tln*ee leagues tliey " arrived 
at the pueblo of San Marcos, also deserted and in ruins 
except the church and convent. They halted here a 
■short time, when the march was continued to Santo 
Domingo eight leagues further, where they arrived in 
good order and found the cavalry and artillery sent for- 
ward from Santa Fe. Here Vargas met the messenger 
whom he had sent, some time previous, to Antonio Mala- 
cate, the Queres chief, with crosses and a rosary, to 
request him to come in and have a talk. The chief had 
left his pueblo and taken up his residence at Santa Ana, 
•and was then too sick to come in ; but lie had sent his 

2 A hymn sung ia praise of the sacrament when it is put in the 
'tabernacle. 



350 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

singer to announce liis illness and sav tliat liis peo|)lo 
awaited tke arrival of the Spaniards, whom thej would be 
glad to see. The messenger was- furnished with a new 
supply of crosses and rosaries and sent to the Querea 
Indians which had deserted their pueblos, and were at that 
time on the other side of the mountains, with an invita- 
tion to the chiefs to come in and hold a parley. lie 
returned the same afternoon, bringing with him some of 
the head men, whom Vargas -received with great friend- 
ship. He held a council with them, after which they 
were dismissed to their people, with instructions to prej^are 
their villages for the arrival of the soldiers. They departed 
well pleased, with crosses and rosaries suspended around 
their necks as evidence of peace. 

The Spaniards marched from Santo Domingo on the 
21st of October. In consequence of the road to La 
Cienguilla being yery bad, he sent the artillery, pro- 
yisions, captives and friendly Indians to the deserted farm 
of Cristoval de An ay a, there to await his arrival. Vargas 
marched direct to Cochiti, where he crossed the Del Norte, 
and continued in a North-west course toward the moun- 
tains. In three leagues he reached a pass where he found 
a large cross erected by the Queres nation, and a short 
distance beyond the Indians were assembled in great 
lumibers, with arches built of foliage. They received the 
Spaniards as friends, saluting them as they advanced, 
and chanting the Alabado. A^argas dismounted, when he 
was escorted to the pueblo, which he entered and took 
possession of in the name of the king of Spain. The 
priests then proceeded to the duty of absolution and 
baptism, and one hundred and three persons, adults and 
children, were received into the church. The general 
stood godfather for a son of one of the principal chiefs, 



THE CONQUEST GF NEW MEXICO. 351 

■who was named Carlos, in honor of the sovereign. At 
this place there were assembled the inhabitants of tlie 
pueblos of Cochiti, San Marcos and San Felipe, who had 
deserted their villages through fear of the Teguas, Tanoi-i 
and Picoris Indians. They were assured that they should 
not be molested if they would return to their homes, 
which they promised to do. The same evening he 
marched to within a short distance of Cochiti, where he 
pitched his camp. 

The next morning Vargas proceeded to the farm of 
Anaya, wdiere he joined tlie troops he had sent forward 
with the provisions and captives. Here the Spaniards 
were again divided. Vargas, with the mciin body, continiied 
the march for Cia and Jemez, while the artillery, supplies, 
tired animals and prisoners were dispatched to the larm 
and pueblo of Mejia, at which place the officer in com- 
mand was ordered to await the return of the general. 
That afternoon, Vargas, with five squadrons of mounted 
men, and fifty friendly Indians, marched for Cia, near 
which they encamped the same night. The pueblo had 
been destroyed a few years before by Cruzate, but it had 
not been rebuilt. Tlie troops entered it the next morning. 
It was situated upon the mesa of Cerro Colorado, and the 
only approach to it was up the side of the plateau by a 
steep and rocky road. The only thing of«value found 
there was the bell of the convent which was ordered to 
be buried. The Indians had built a new village near the 
ruins of tlie old one. When they saw the Spaniards 
approach they came forth to meet and bid them vv'elcome, 
canning crosses in their hands, and the chiefs marching 
at their head. In this manner they escorted A'argas and 
his troops to the plaza, where arches and crosses were 
erected, and good quarters provided them. He caused 



352 THE CONQUEST OF KEW JIEXICO 

the inhabitants to be assembled, when he explained to 
them the object of his visit and the manner in wliicli he 
intended to punish all the rebellious Indians. This con- 
'clnded, the usual ceremonies of taking possession, baptism 
and absolution, took place. Among other things the 
general advised them to return to the old pueblo and 
rebuild it, and he gave them a few axes to aid them in 
the work. The interview closed bv the Indians per- 
forming their favorite dance, after which Vargas appointed 
the requisite officers of the pueblo and instructed them in 
their duties. 

A'argas marched from Cia the same day for tlie old 
pueblo of Jemez, three leagues distant. He arrived there 
Avitliout hindrance, but finding it abandoned he continued 
•on to the nev/ pueblo situated upon 'a high mesa, and 
about three leagues beyond the old one. The ascent to 
the top of the mesa was up a rough and ditlicult road. 
The Indians had watched the approach of the Spaniards 
and made preparations to resist them. A^argas commenced 
the ascent, and as he neared the top he was met by over 
three hundred well-armed warriors, nearly the same num- 
ber being held in reserve. They advanced with every 
appearance of hostility. They sounded their war-cry and 
rushed among the Spaniards and friendly Indians brand- 
ishing theim weapons and throwing dirt in their eyes. 
Vargas sounded a parley to know what was the meaning 
of their strange conduct, when they informed him such 
was their mode of manifesting their pleasure at seeing 
him and his troops ; but suspecting treachery ho w^as on 
his guard and watched them closely. He ascended the 
mesa on horseback. When lie approached within about 
an hundred yards of the spot where the governor and 
•chiefs and manv of the old men v;ere assembled, with 



THE CONQUEST OF NPW ^MEXICO. 353 

'•■crosses in their hands, they all knelt down. He dis- 
mounted to salute them, when they chanted the Alabado, 
embracing each other, and conducted him to the pueblo. 
This pueblo was quite extensive and well fortified. It 
contained two plazas with four large buildings around 
each, and was defended by a redoubt and wall, with only 
one entrance to the first plaza, which communicated with 
the second by a small gate. The Indians crowded into 
the plaza in large numbers with their arms in their hands, 
and immediately commenced the war dance. Seeing this 
demonstration, Vargas became alarmed for his safety, but 
wisely kept his fears to himself, in the meantime counsel- 
ing in his own mind how to defend himself in case of an 
attack. lie permitted them to continue the dance some 
time, when he ordered them to bring in the women and. 
children, whicli they complied with. He now directed 
them to lay down their arms, which they also did, and 
immediately after he assembled them in council. He 
explained to them that he came to chastise those who 
continued in rebellion and apostacy ; that all the Indians 
were the subjects of his master, the king of Spain, and 
the land his property ; and that if they did not remain 
peaceable and forsake their heathen customs, he would 
punish them severely. The priests then entered upon 
the discharge of their holy duties, and baptised and 
absolved the whole population. Vargas and the priests 
were then invited into an inner room of one of the build- 
ings where a good entertainment was provided them, but 
they partook of the feast in constant fear of treachery. 

While at Jemez, a deputation of Apache Indians came 

to see Vargas and made many professions of 2')eace. Ho 

refused to hear them, but promised to return in one year 

and listen to what they had to say, commanding them to 

23 



3-54 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

live at peace witli the Spaniards, in the meantime. The 
interview was now closed, and all the Indians were directed 
to return to their respective pneblos. That afternoon 
Vargas descended the mesa and pitched his camp in front 
of the old pueblo, directing the Indians to bring him pro- 
visions to that place the next morning, but they only 
fiu'nished him with a few sheep and a little pinole. He 
resumed the march that day, and at night encamped at 
the ruined pueblo of Santa Ana. The following day he 
rejoined the remainder of his forces at the deserted farm 
of Mejia. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 355 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



THE ARMY NOW MARCHES FOE THE PROTIXCES OF ZUNI AND 

JIOQtIl. 

Since Vargas had entered New Mexico for its re- 
conquest, he had reduced to complete subjection seventeen 
jDrovinces, while the priests who accompanied him 
baptised npward of one thousand five hundred and seventy 
persons. The provinces yet remaining in a hostile atti- 
tude were those of Znui and Moqui, the latter being 
about an hundred leagues West of Santa Ana. For the 
reduction of these he made immediate preparations. 

Before taking up the line of march he made disposition 
of all his superfluous forces, so that they would not encum- 
ber his movements. The citizens and friendly Indians, wlif> 
had accompanied him to this point, were sent to El Paso 
•del Norte with an escort, pack animals and wagons being 
provided for the transportation of themselves, families 
and provisions. Among those who were sent to El Paso 
were the following prisoners, to be kept in charge by the 
lieutenant-governor until their fate should be decided by 
the king. The list, as here published, is a copy of the 
original record, and was handed to the ofiicer in command 
of the escort, viz : 



366 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO, 

"1. Captain Roque Madrid conducts Patrona Casadat 
%vitli Cristoval her grandson, citizens and residents of 
Sonora, ^dtll five sons and two daughters. 

" 2. Jose Dominguez takes his sister, Juana Dominguez, 
with four daughters and one son. 

" 3. Juan Olguin takes two daughters of Jose Nevares, 
a soldier at Jeniez. 

" 4. Francisco IMarques takes aunt Luzia, wife of Pedro 
Marques, resident of the Casas Grandes, with a daugliter 
grown. 

" 5. Francisco Ahnazar takes a muh^tto woman, called 
Maria, with three daughters and one son. 

" 6. Diego Garcia, soldier, takes a woman called Juana, 
with three children."i 

The escort having left for El Paso, Vargas took up the 
line of march for Zuni on the afternoon of the 30th of 
October. His force consisted of eighty-nine soldiers, rank 
and file, and thirty Indian runners, these being all the 
troops at his command for the conquest of two powerful 
provinces. The same day he marched to Isleta where he 
encamped for the night. He found this pueblo abandoned 
and in ruins, except the walls of the church and convent, 
which were in a good state of preservation. The follow- 
ing day he reached the river Puerco, which he found 
swollen and of difficult passage. He -was obliged to cross 
the camp equipage aud provisions by hand ; and he 
pitched his camp that night near the bank of the stream. 
Pursuing his march across a barren country, in a course 
a little South of West, on the 3d of November he came 
within view of the penol of Acoma, and saw smoke arising 
from the camp fires of the Queres enemy. Vargas now 

1 Although these persons seem to have been prisoners, the journal 
of Vars^as is silent as to the nature of their offence. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 357 

mounted a fresh horse, and, riding forward with a small 
escort to reconnoitre, he found the Indians assembled in 
considerable numbers upon two rocky eminences. When 
■ within gunshot of the one on the right, the Spaniards 
charged the enemy, crying in a loud voice as they 
rushed toward them, "blessed be the Virgin Mary." 
The Indians made no hostile demonstration, but as the 
soldiers approached they responded to their cry by 
shouting "forever." Vargas, seeing that the enemy 
exhibited signs of peace, sounded a parley, and through 
the medium of an interpreter explained the reason of 
his presence among them with an armed force. He told 
them that he came to punish those who still remained 
in arms against their king, but to pardon all who would 
acknowledge their guilt and surrender. As evidence of 
his pacific intention, he showed them an image and a 
cross. A friendly Indian was now sent up to the mount 
to hold an interview with the enemy. He told them 
of the manner in which the pueblos had been treated who 
had already laid down their arms, and called two warriors 
of the Zuni and Moqui village to witness the truth of 
what he said. The priests joined their assurances with 
those of the friendly Indians in testimony of the peaceful 
intention of the Spaniards. The Indians at last professed 
to be satisfied, and directed Vargas to march his command 
to the opposite side of the hill where he would be able to 
make the ascent. 

The Spaniards reached the summit by traversing a 
narrow and difficult pathway. The Indians, however, 
refused to come forward to meet them, but instead with- 
drew within their entrenchments, the entrance to which 
they stopped up with stones, and declined to hold any 
further intercourse with them. This strange conduct and 



358 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO". 

rspparent hostility greatly provoked Vargas. The mes- 
sengers sent lip to hold the parley, being still in the 
enemy's camp, demanded to be set free, but the Indi- 
ans refused to let them go. After a little delay a half- 
breed went up to the entrenchments and talked with the 
Indians, but what he said produced no efiect upon them. 
They refused, positively, to entertain any proposition 
until after they had held their grand council. They told 
Yargas that the Apaches were watching an opportunity 
to attack his camp, and begged him to be upon his guard. 
The Spaniards, being unable to accomplish anything, 
withdrew into the plain below and encamped. 

Early the next morning the half-breed Zuiii Indian was 
dispatched to the Queres camp upon the mount with a 
cross and a message in writing. He was again directed to 
assure the Indians that the Spaniards had come into their 
country for no other purpose than from a desire to bring 
them back to Christianity, and that the priests who ac- 
companied the expedition would baptise and pardon them. 
He returned about ten o'clock with the answer of the 
Indians. He had given the cross to one who understood 
Spanish, and who read the letter to the others, who 
listened to it attentively. They kissed the cross, and 
expressed uneasiness because they were alone and unpro- 
tected, having no other friends than the Nabajo Apaches, 
whom they promised to inform of the situation of things. 
They desired that A'argas should continue his march to 
Zuni, and when he returned, they promised to be prepared 
to hold a talk with him. 

Being now convinced that he could not open negotia- 
tions with the enemy at this time, Vargas concluded to 
resume his march to the West. Before he set out he 
made search for a convenient watering place at which 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 359 

IjO establish his camp upon his return, but was unable 
to find a more favorable location than the one he then 
occupied. Seeing that the Indians watched him closely 
from their entrenchments, and perceiving, as he thought, 
some signs of their coming to terms, he made a last effort 
in that behalf. For this purpose he returned within 
speaking distance of their position, accompanied only by 
a few soldiers, and requested a parley. The principal 
chief, who spoke Spanish, came forward and invited 
him to ascend the mount, which he did. AVhen they 
had come together, tlie chief said that he liad been ad- 
vised not to treat with him, upon the ground that it was 
feared he desired to get them into his power under the 
•cloak of Christianity, and would afterward hang and shoot 
them. The captain-general assured him that this was 
false, and after some time he succeeded in making the 
Indians believe in the sincerity of his professions, when 
they laid down their arms and submitted. To seal the 
treaty Vargas and Mateo, the chief, embraced, and the 
latter erected a cross in the middle of the pueblo. The 
priests now entered upon the discharge of their functions, 
and absolved the whole population, kneeling, and after- 
ward baptised eighty-seven persons. This pueblo was 
quite extensive, 2 with two plazas and three immense rows 
of buildings. The church was large and in good repair, 
with walls a vara and a half thick, some of which had 
ll:)een loop-holed. Having accomplished the object in 
view Vargas returned to camp, where he offered up 
tlianks for the capture of the pueblo without loss of blood. 

2 The old manuscript journal of Vargas states that this pueblo was 
*' the size of a long horse race," (Tamaiia de una carrera larga de ca- 
'ballo), but as neither the size nor length of a horse race of that day has 
come down to us, we are unable to determine how large it was. 



360 THE CONQUEST OF NCW IIEXIGTO, 

Tte Spaniards resumed tlie marcli for Zuni on Wednes- 
day, the otli of November, and the same evening en- 
camped at a spring a few miles beyond. The third day 
they mp,rched within twenty-five leagues of their destina- 
tion, when a messenger was sent forwai'd to the pueblo 
to announce their approach, and forbid the inhabitants 
leaving. He bore with him a cross and a rosary as evi- 
dence of the peaceful and friendly intention of the 
Spaniards. That night the command vras compelled to 
encamp without water, as there was none to be had 
nearer than the Moro, twelve leagues beyond. They 
encamped there the following day, and found an abund- 
ant supply. They marched the next day through a 
heavy storm to the small spring of Zuni. During the 
afternoon ten mounted Indians, and two on foot, came to 
the camp and informed Vargas, that in consequence of 
his friendly letter the old men of the pueblo had sent 
them out to welcome him, and to say that they were well 
pleased at his coming. They brought a present of a sheep, 
and some tortillas and watermelons. They remained 
in camp that night. Thence the Spaniards marched five 
leagues, and encamped in the vicinity of Zuni prepara- 
tory to entering it the next day. In the night the 
Apachess attacked the guard in charge of the animals, 
and in consequence of the darkness succeeded in running, 
off seventeen head of cattle. Vargas was unable to send 
a party in pursuit of the thieves because of the bad 
condition of his horses; but he determined to make a 
campaign against them as soon as possible. 

He took possession of the pueblo the next day. The 
road up the penol or mount upon which it was situated 
was so steep and difficult of ascent, that he was obhgedj 
3 Supposed to have been the same tribe now called. Mogollonea*. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 361 

to dismount and ascend on foot, 4 When lie entered he 
found a large number of the inhabitants waiting to 
receive him. He chanted the Alabado, when the Indians 
approached and embraced him, and proclaimed their 
friendship. The pueblo consisted of three sets of quar- 
ters. The inhabitants being assembled he explained to 
them the object of his visit ; that the king, his master,^ 
was also their master ; that they and the whole country 
belonged to him ; and that in his name he took possession 
of the pueblo, as he had done of all the others. They 
were then absolved, and two himdred and ninety-four 
were baptised. He ordered a large cross to be put up in 
the plaza. The principal chief then invited Vargas into 
his house, and upon entering it he found a small altar 
erected and two large tallow candles burning thereon. 
Upon removing some pieces of church ornament he dis- 
covered two brass images of Christ, fifty-six inches in 
length, attached to which were crosses of wood ; another 
image of Christ, crucified, fastened to a wooden cross, 
with San Francisco Capuchino at his feet ; a painting of 
Saint John the Baptist, on canvas, three-quarters of a 
yard long ; a silver custodia inlaid mtli gold, and other 
articles ; besides a number of books on Christianity, among 
which was one on confession, in the Mexican and Spanish 
languages. The books and sacred ornaments were deliv- 
ered to Vargas, who promised to return them to the holy 
father at El Paso. He and the priests, upon invitation, 
dined with the head men of the pueblo, and were enter- 
tained in the most hospitable manner. They were much 

4 The situation of Zuiii, and the steepness of the road that led up to 
it, with the difficulty of its ascent, agree with what Castaneda says 
about the entrance to Cibola when Coronada was there in 1541. It is 
additional testimony in favor of the identity of these places. 



362 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

pleased with their reception and entertainment, not having 
seen anything equal to it among the Indians of New 
]\Iexico. The exercises of the day being concluded, Var- 
gas returned to the Spanish camp about sunset. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 363 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



THE MOQUI INDIANS BEING PACIFIED YARGAS RETUKNS TO 
EL PASO WITH HIS ARMY. 

While the Spaniards were encamped at Zuiii, a Mo- 
qui Indian brought information to Vargas that that 
pueblo had become alarmed at his approach and fled 
to the mountains with their families and stock. Their 
alarm was caused by the Nabajoi Apaches, who had been 
to the villages and told the inhabitants not to believe a 
word that Vargas had written them from Jemez, nor to 
accept the cross, as his only object was to get them in his 
power and then destroy them. The Indians believing 
this would be the case had sought safety in flight. To 
assure them of his peaceable intentions the governor 
wrote them a second letter, which he dispatched by the 
runner who brought the information ; in which he stated 
that he had already pardoned them for their participation 
in the rebellion, and requested them to return to their 
villages and await, his arrival. He also sent them another 
cross. 

1 A tribe still living ia New Mexico, West of the Del Norte river, and 
kaown as the Nabajo Indians. 



364 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

On the 13th of November a deputation of eight or ten 
Saline Apaches, 2 headed by a chief, came to the Spanish 
camp with many professions of friendship. Vargas em- 
braced them and extended his hand in token of peace. He 
told them that he would be their friend so long as they be- 
haved themselves well and remained at peace ; but that if 
they were really desirous of being friendly with the Span- 
iards they must make war upon the Faraon Apaches and 
bring back the cattle the latter had stolen from him. He 
then accused them of being the thieves, and having run off 
his cattle, which they denied, and said their only object 
in coming to his camp was to make peace, and notify him 
that he could pass through their country in safety. He 
wanted them to be baptised as evidence of their friendsliip, 
which they declined, when he closed the interview, and 
giving them a little tobacco, sent them out of camp. 

Vargas now made his arrangements to continue the 
march to the Moqui villages. He had two objects in 
view in going into that country ; one, in order to explore 
the mountain where it was said red ochre abounded, and 
the other, and more important, for the purpose of reducing 
the Indians to subjection. He had reported the abund- 
ance of quicksilver said to be found in that country, and 
he also was desirous of proving the truth of this to the 
viceroy. He sent all the disabled soldiers and worn out 
horses to El Paso under a guard of twenty-five men in 
command of captain Rafael Teyes Jiron, and he caused 
the cattle and other stock, not necessary for the expedition, 
to be placed in a secure place under a guard at Zuiii, until 
he should return. 

He left this pueblo with sixty-three soldiers and two 
priests, on the 15th of November, and encamped that 

2 Supposed to have been the same as the present Mescalero Apaches. 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 365 

night in the middle of the timber, six leagues beyond. 
On the fifth day, while on the march, two Indians, named 
Salbador and Sebastian, from Aguatnbi, came to him to 
inquire when he would arrive at the pueblo. The father 
of one of them was on the look-out the day before, and 
waited until sunset, but as tllfe Spaniards did not make 
their appearance, he returned. Vargas received them 
with kindness, and put a rosary upon their necks. About 
four o'clock the same afternoon, four other Indians, w^el] 
mounted and armed, met him two leao-ues from the village 
and bade him and the soldiers welcome. They accom- 
panied him about a league and then returned to their 
pueblo. When he arrived near the mesa, upon which tlie 
village was situated, he was met by seven or eight hun- 
dred Indians, some mounted and others on foot, and 
armed with arquebusses, and bows and arrows, and sino-incr 
their war songs. They surrounded the Spaniards ; and 
the manuscript journal of Vargas states that they en- 
deavored to provoke him into a fight by askino- him 
" diabolical questions." He assured them that he had come 
upon a peaceful mission, having been sent by tlie kino- to 
pardon them for the part they had taken in the rebellion 
and that he had brought with him an image of the Holy 
Virgin, and the royal standard. He tlien directed the 
chief, Miguel, to dismount and order his people to do the 
same and lay down their arms. The chief did as he was 
required, and in a short time the Indians were pacified 
and order restored. 

This village was found to be well fortified, and the en- 
trance to it was so narrow that but one person could iDass 
in at a time. Vargas caused the soldiers to dismount 
when, with the royal-flag flying, and himself at their head, 
they entered on foot and took possession in the name of 



B66 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

the king. He compelled tlie Indians to receive the Holy 
Virgin on their knees, and repeat the act of possession. 
The two interpreters, Miguel and Francisco, were then 
directed to tell them that the friars would absolve and 
baptise them the next morning ; until which time they 
must return to their homes, and that if they remained quiet 
they would not be molested. Miguel invited Vargas to 
go to his house and partake of refreshments, which he 
declined to do, as he was not willing to separate himself 
from his soldiers, but he requested the interpreter to bring 
to him what he had prepared. He retired for a short time 
and returned with a supply of provisions for the whole 
command. The Indians requested the general to remain 
in the pueblo that night. This he declined as he preferred 
encamping outside, and having obtained a good location, 
he pitched his camp. 

The next morning the ceremonies of absolution and 
baptism were peformed. Vargas and the priests entered 
the pueblo with an escort of fifty men, Avell mounted and 
armed, who were cautioned to be upon their guard during 
the religious exercises. In the first place the Indians 
were ordered to erect a large cross upon the plaza, which 
being done, they were asseml)led around it, when one 
hundred and twenty-two were baptised, and a great num- 
ber were absolved of their sins. Vargas stood sponser 
for a son and daughter of Miguel. These ceremonies 
having been concluded, the general appointed a governor 
for the pueblo. His choice, for this position, fell upon 
]*\Iiguel, to v\'hom he caused the proper oath to be admin- 
istered, gave him the necessary instructions, and com- 
manded the people to obey him. He now dined with 
the new governor, after which he returned to camp. 

The next afternoon Miguel came to the camp and 



THE CONQUEST GF NEW MEXICO. 36T 

related what took place among the Indians when they 
heard the Spaniards were marching into the province. 
He said that he had read the letter he received from 
Vargas to the Indians of Aguatubi and sent word of 
its contents to the pueblos of Gualpi, Jongopabi, Mon-- 
sonabi and Oraybi, and that the inhabitants of all the 
villages assembled on a Sunday and held a council, the 
leading man being one named Antonio, of Gualpi. When 
informed that Vargas had left at Zurd the principal part 
of his forces, they resolved to kill him and his whole 
command. The chief Antonio was the leader of all the 
hostility ; he it was wlio caused all the disturbance in the 
province, and induced the Indians to arm themselves 
upon the arrival of the Spaniards. They determined not 
to permit any of them to enter their pueblos. The new 
governor, according to his own account, stood up man- 
fully in defence of the Spaniards and opposed the hostile 
intentions of the Indians ; he told his countrymen that 
Vargas and his troops had come a long distance upon a 
mission of peace, mainly to pardon them for the offences 
they had committed in the late rebellion ; that they were 
good Christians, and himself and the inhabitants of his 
pueblo would receive and treat them well. The Indians 
commenced collecting together, the next day after the 
council, to put their plans into execution. He said they 
were much enraged against him for the part he had taken 
in the reception of Vargas and his troops, and threatened 
to put him to death as soon as the Spaniards should 
leave the province. 

The relation of Miguel did not cause any alarm to 
Vargas, and he determined to carry out his intention of 
visiting the other pueblos. He accordingly marched for 
Gualpi, the nearest village, with forty-five soldiers, well 



368 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO 

monnted, leaving the balance of his animals at Aquatubi, 
with a guard of -fifteen men. Tlie soldiers marched in 
fern's, and were ordered to have their arms always ready, 
but not to fire without orders. In three leagues they 
reached the mesa upon which the pueblo was situated ; 
and as soon as the Indians saw them approaching they 
sallied out in great numbers, some mounted, and others 
on foot, and armed witli various kinds of weapons, 
Vargas directed the half-breed, Antonio, to ask the Indians 
to lay down their arms and come and meet him ; whicli 
those of the pueblo of Gualpi immediately complied with, 
but the others refused. One-half the command then 
entered the pueblo, while the remainder kept guard 
outside. Vargas then went through the same ceremonj^ of 
explaining the object of his visit, and taking formal pos- 
session of the village, as I have before narrated. lie 
caused a cross to be erected on the plaza, and commanded 
the Indians to repeat the four prayers every morning, 
and to build a church and convent. The priests then 
absolved and baptised eighty-one persons, old and young. 
The doors of the houses were on the top. Vargas 
entered the house of captain Antonio and took some 
refreshments, after which he retired from the pueblo. 

The Spaniards next marched to Monsonabi, otherwise 
called Buenaventura — Ventura, situated, upon a high 
mesa three leagues distant. As soon as he took up the 
inarch for this pueblo, all the Indians who were at xlqua- 
tubi l)elonging to it, left the latter village and returned 
to their own homes. The entrance to IMonsonabi was more 
difiicult than that to all the other pueblos. Here Vargas 
met the Indian named Pedro, whom he had dispatched 
to the Moqui country, from Jemez, with a cross as evi- 
dence of his peaceful mission. He was standing upon 



^HE CeNQUESTOF NEW MEXICG. 369 

-tlie plaza with the cross in his hand, in company with the 
two captains, Joseph and Sebastian. He caused the 
Indians to lay down their arms, bring their families to 
the square and erect a cross, when he took possession of 
the pueblo, after which the priests baptised and absolved 
the whole population. 

Leaving Monsonabi, the Spaniards marched to the 
pueblo of San Bernardo de Jongopabi, a league distant, 
situated upon a mesa still higher than that of Buenaven- 
tura. A number of unarmed Indians were met at the 
entrance to the village, many of whom had their women 
and children with them. Varo-as ordered a lavg-Q cross to 
be erected in the square, when the usual ceremonies of 
taking possession, absolution and baptism were performed, 
after which he returned to his former camp near Agua- 
tul)i. From the latter place he had marched twelve or 
fourteen leagues without water, and many of his horses 
were broken dovrn for the want of it. He seems not to 
have visited Oraybi. 

Having completed the pacification of the province Var- 
gas next turned his attention to the red-ochre mines, the 
discovery of whicli was one of the objects of the expedi- 
tion. They were said to be situated in the Red Mountain, 
(Cierro Colorado,) and in order to obtain information 
about tliem, he examined one Pedro, a Zufii Indian, who 
had twice visited them. He had been a servant of friar 
Joseph de Espleta, a missionary among the Moquis. Hc^ 
said they were ten days' travel from Agiiatubi in a high and 
steep mountain, difficult of access ; that it required a da^- 
or two to go up and get the ochre out of the earth, having- 
to descend into a deep liole, and that it was necessai-^- 
to remain in the mountain all night v^'ithout water. The 
:road from the Moqui pueblos was a difficult one to travel 
2.4 



370 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Hiid Avater was only found at long intervals, tlio iirss 
watering place being ten leagues distant from Aguatubi. 
A river lay in the route, tbe banks of wliicli were so 
steep tliat horses could not be taken down them, but 
must be left on the East side.s It was necessary to pass 
through the country of the Cominas, Avho were repre- 
S3nted as a very strong and warlike iiation. Upon being 
asked the size of the vein, the Indian answered that it 
was " about as large as a watermelon,"* and very solid, 
and sometimes changed its color. The Indians used this 
earth to paint themselves and also for the preservation 
of their skin, which kept it smooth and soft, and obliter- 
ated marks of the small-pox. After learning the distance 
to the ochre mine, and the difficulties to be encountered 
in reaching it, Vargas concluded to give up the expedi- 
tion and return to the pueblo of Zufii. 

It was his intention to return to Zufii by the way of 
Oraybi, but because of the great scarcity of water on the 
road and at that pueblo, and of the broken-down condition 
of the animals, he detennined to proceed direct to .the 
former place. He took up the line of march on the 24t]i 
of November, and the same evening encamped at a water- 
ing place called ]\Iagdelena. The second day a number 
of his animals gave out, and he was obliged to leave them 
behind on the road. A messenger from the grazing camp 
at Aloma met him with information that the Apaches 
had stolen three head of horses, and threatened the 
destruction of the troops stationed there as guard, whicLv 
induced him to push forward as rapidly as possible. He 
left camp on the evening of the 26th, about nine o'clock, 

;i This river is the same as the Rio Colorado, which formed the 
'iN^estern boundary of New Mexico as originally established by Congress. 
4 " Por comparaciou de una grandia.'' 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 371 

with tweuty-six of his best horsemen, for the relief of 
Aloma, and by making forced marclies he arrived there 
about the same hour tlie next evening. His command, 
with the horses and mules, arrived the next day, when 
he moved his camp near the penol of Zuni. 

Having now fully accomplished the object for which 
lie had entered New Mexico, the pacification of the 
Indian provinces, Vargas resolved to march for El Paso, 
and made immediate arrangements to set out. He met 
with an Indian who promised to conduct him by a new 
and shorter route to the pueblo of Cenecu (near the 
present Socorro), and along which there was an abund- 
ance of wood and water. The name of this guide was 
Cabezon, (Big-head,) and he and his two companions, 
named Bermejo and Alonzo, were each to receive a horse 
for his service besides his provisions. He commenced 
the march on the 30th of November, by the way of tlie 
Ojita de Zuni, where he was overtaken by an Indian 
runner, with information that the Apaches intended to 
attack him that night. He ordered his men to sleep 
upon their arms, and be ready at any moment to resist 
the enemy. Here he was joined by two soldiers left in 
the pueblo of Aloma; who were accompanied by their 
two sisters, who had been made prisoners ii^the rebellion, 
and lived among the Indians since that time. 

The Spaniards encamped at the Moro on the night of 
the 1st of December. Their course was now changed to the 
South, and lay throngh an unknown and barren country 
roamed over by bands of hostile Indians. They broke 
up camp the next morning in a heavy storm of snow and 
rain. After marching a league they came in siglit of the 
Black Mountains, and the guide pointed out Long Rock, 
near which the Eed Apaches lived and planted corn. 



372 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

Here flowed a fine stream of water. At the base of tlie 
mountains the road changed to the South-east, and passed 
over a country of volcanic formation, and very rough. 
In a march of four leagues they entered a mountainouis 
region and encamped. During the night, in spite of the 
vigilance of the guard, the Apaches succeeded in stealing 
fourteen horses, and lanced one which died the next 
morning. The camp was entirely surrounded by them, 
and the presence of the sentinels alone prevented them 
from making an attack. 

The Spaniards continued the march in the same direc- 
tion. In the distance of two leagues they left the 
mountains and struck upon a prairie which they crossed, 
and then came among hills of volcanic formation, which 
they traversed for more than a league, when tliey entered 
an extensive valley bounded by hills covered with the 
royal pine, and thence descended into another valley, 
where they encamped for the night. The next day they 
continued their march down this valley, which they 
found well wooded and covered with fine pasture, in a 
storm of rain. Having traversed the valley several 
leagues, they crossed a rolling prairie and entered upon 
an extensive plain, on which they encamped without 
water. They.continued tlieir march in the same direc- 
tion until the 9th of December, when they reached the 
ruined pueblo of Socorro. The next day they proceeded 
down the West bank of the Del Norte, and, making easy 
marches, reached El Paso the 20th of the month, without 
further detention. During the expedition Vargas had 
recaptured seventy-four Spanish women and cliildren, 
who had been made captive in the rebellion, and the 
priests had baptised two thousand two hundred and four- 
t-een Indians, who had renounced their idolatrous worship. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 373 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



SECOND EXPEDITION OF VARGAS INTO NEW MEXICO, AND 
HIS MARCH TO SANTA FE. 

The Spanisli government in Mexico determined, the 
following year, to send another expedition into New 
Mexico, to be accompanied by emigrants, for the purpose 
of estabhshing permanent settlements, and effecting a 
more complete conquest of the country and subjugation 
of the Indians. This was, likewise, intrusted to the com- 
mand of Vargas, who received the necessary instructions 
to fit out the expedition, and funds to provide for the 
wants of the settlers on the march, i The whole com- 
mand, including every description of persons, numbered 

1 On the 24111 of November, IG92, by virtue of an order of the count 
of Galves, and the ministers of the Royal Junta, at Mexico, there was 
paid to Vargas the sum of $12,038.50, and on another order from the 
same officer, there were paid to him on the 8th of April, 1G03, $29, 783.62, 
in all $-12,461.12, for the purpose of recruiting settlers for the Presidio 
of Santa Fe, and for their support for one year. Of this whole amount 
of forty-two thousand dollars and upward, it is alleged that Vargas 
only expended seven thousand for the use of the emigrants; the 
remainder probably being spent for his private purposes. 



374 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

fifteen liimdred, ^vith over tliree tlioiisand liorses and 
mules. To each family there was given a sum of money. 
amounting to from ten to forty dollars, to purchase neces- 
saries on the way. The emigrants were placed under 
the immediate control of captain Juan Paes Hurtado. 

Vargas took up the line of march from El Paso on the 
11th day of Octoher, 1693, and followed his former 
com-se up the valley of the Del Norte. The sufferings 
of the families were very great. Each person was allowed 
one pound of flour and a httle beef per day until they 
arrived at a place called Louis Lopez, when the provisions 
gave out, after which their condition was wretched*. They 
were compelled to sell their arms and horses, and every 
thing else they could dispose of to the Indians, for food. 
Thirty persons perished from hunger and exposure alone. 
The march was so much retarded by the wagons carrying 
the effects of the emigrants, that Vargas was obliged to 
leave them behind to come up at leisure, while he pushed 
on with the troops. 

I have not been able to obtain a complete record of 
his march up the valley, and therefore am not acquainted 
with his operations until after he arrived at the pueblo of 
Isleta. The valley of the Eio del Norte is narrow in its 
widest part, and lies on both sides of the river, extending 
from the stream back to the barren hills which follow its 
course. In many parts it is sandy and desert-hke, and 
the march of troops, and the transportation of supplies is 
necessarily a laborious and tedious operation. Up the 
valley the S-paniards pursued their toilsome way, meeting 
all the incidents and dangers to be encountered in a march 
through an enemy's country. 

When Vargas reached the pueblo of Isleta, less than 
a lumdred miles South of Santa Fe, he encamped liis 



HWE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 37'5 

forces for a time, in order to prepare for a fnrtlier advance 
into the interior. He sent a runner to the village of Cia, 
to obtain information of the condition of the country and 
such other news as might he useful to him in his future 
operations. Upon his return he reported that the Indians 
of Santa Fe had held a council and resolved to resist his 
advance, and had provided a large number of lances and 
arrows. Their plan was to make an attack upon the 
troops and animals at the same time, hoping by dividing 
the attention of the Spaniards, to meet with success. 
The Pueblo Indians invited the ilpache tribes to join 
them, and the latter had expressed their willingness to 
do so. There was great scarcity of provisions in the 
country, on account of the damage clone to the cropg 
by grasshoppers. Much division and dissension pre 
mailed among the inhabitants of Cia, some being in favor 
of war, while others were as anxious for peace. This 
information put Vargas upon his guard, and he moved 
and acted with extreme caution. 

Having made the necessary disposition of his forces to 
resist an attack upon the march, he moved from Isleta 
with his command and proceeded to a farm within fifteen 
leagues of Santa Fe, where he arrived on the 12tli day 
of JSTovember. He halted here in order to reconnoitre 
the surrounding country ; and as the position was a favor- 
: able one fcr that purpose, he threw up some slight works 
as a defence. The next day, with an escort of fifty 
soldiers, he marched up the valley to the pueblo of San 
Felipe. Upon his approach the Indians formed in two 
lines, with a large cross between them, and when he 
entered the village they received him friendly. He 
told tliem he had again brought priests with him, and 
,that .they must .say Mass according to the forrp. of the 



376 THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICa 

Spaniards. They expressed themselves satisfied witli 
this, and offered refreshments to him and the whole of 
his command. Here he met some of the chiefs of 
Cochiti, whom he told he intended to visit their pueblo, 
and directed them to return and talk with their people, 
and come and see him again the next day. 

From this place Vargas sent captain Cristobal with 
eleven head of cattle to the pueblos up the river to trade 
Vv'ith the Indians for corn and other grain. Four leagues 
from camp he met an old woman who told him that the 
Indians were assembled for the purpose of destroying the 
whole command about seven leagues from Santa Fe, 
They had sent two fleet young men to Cochiti to ask the 
assistance of the inhabitants of that pueblo, but the latter 
l)eing divided in opinion had not yet decided upon the 
course to take. This information was immediately com- 
municated to Vargas, who ordered the troops he had left 
behind to join him. Shortly afterward he was informed, 
that because two nations had refused to join this combi- 
nation against the Spaniards, the Indians liad returned to 
their pueblos, but that they were determined to resist 
any attempt to enter Santa Fe. 

The command was united on tlie 19th. The same day 
Vargas took a squadron of sixty well-armed men and pro- 
ceeded to the mesas overlooking the valley of the river, 
where he found assembled Indians of the pueblos of Santa 
Ana, Cia, and Cochiti, who appeared to be friendly 
disposed, and, as the old manuscript expresses it, "obe- 
dient to the Divine and human Majesty." A few of the 
children were baptised at the request of the Indians ; and 
after obtaining some provisions he and his command 
returned to camp. 

The Spaniards now resumed the march for Santa Fe. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 377 

They arrived at Santo Domingo the 1st of December, 
and found tliat pneblo deserted. Here A^argas met and 
had a talk with the governors of Tezuqne, San Lazaro, 
and San Yldefonso. Don Louis, the leading man of all 
these pueblos, appearing much dejected in the council, 
was asked the cause of it. He replied that when the 
Spaniards left the country, the year before, the governor's 
interpreter told him they would return some feast day, 
and order all the chiefs and principal men engaged in the 
rebellion to be put to death ; and that the idea of such a 
thing taking place caused him trouble. A'^argas quieted 
the fears of the chief, but, at the same time, told him 
this second attempt to conspire for the destruction of his 
forces merited the severest punishment, even to the ex- 
termination of their whole kingdom. He then sent Don 
Louis on a mission to- the Lidiaus of Santa Fe and San 
Lazaro, with instructions to inform them that he had 
1_)roug'ht with him the images of Jesus and the Holy 
Mother, and a cross, and that he would not break the 
promise of pardon he had jnade them the year before ; 
and that these holy things were much better than their 
estufas. He promised the Indians that when his inter- 
preter, Pedro de Tapia, should return he would cause 
him to be shot for deceiving them. Don Louis took ynth 
him a few goods to trade Math the Indians for provisions, 
and was accompanied by four soldiers as a guard. He 
returned to the Spanish camp on the fourth day with a 
good supply of corn, in addition to twelve mule loads 
sent him by the inhabitants of Santa Fe, as a present. 

Vargas marched from Santo Domingo on the 11th of 
December in a violent snow storm, and the same evening 
encamped on the mesa at the farm of Roque Madrid, 
within two leagues of Santa Fe. ' He was visited tliat 



■3 78 THE CONQL'EST OF NEW MEXICO. 

evening by a deputation of Indians from the town, headed 
by the governor and accompanied by the chief of Tezuqne. 
They manifested great friendship, and, as evidence of 
their good feehng, they brought the Spaniards a supply 
of tortilhis. 2 They informed him that the report put in 
circulation by the interpreter had caused great commotion 
among them, and given much alarm Ji but that the old 
men and women had denied its truth, saj-ing that Vargas 
was their father, and would not injure them. 

He remained encamped at this place until the 16th, 
when he resumed the march for Santa Fe. With his 
troops formed in martial array, and mounted and accom- 
panied by the ayuntamiento,3 with the same colors flying 
that had waved over Don Juan de Oiiate, the first 
conqueror, when he had entered the place, he marched 
into the town and took possession of it. The population 
assembled upon the plaza to receive him, the men being 
drawn up on one side, and the women on the other. 
When the priests, who were in rear of the troops, 
approached the plaza, they commenced chanting hymns 
and repeating prayers. The soldiers were formed in 
open ranks to allow them to pass through, iind when 
they arrived upon the square they knelt down before a 
cross the Indians had erected, celebrated tlie Te Deum, 
and chanted the Litany. Vargas ]iow delivered a dis- 
course to the Indians, in which he explained to them the 
object of his second visit to Santa Fe; all that he said 
being confirmed ])y the friars. The town was in about 
tlie same condition as when he had left it the year before, 
the works and entrenchments being still in good order. 
The ceremonies having been concluded, the troops were 

2 Thin cakes made of com meal. 

3 Town council. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 379 

marelied to a hill a short distance out of town, where 
the Indians had prepared accommodations for them. 4 

The soldiers and emigrants remained encamped upon 
this hill until the 25th of the month. The weather had 
set in very cold in the meantime, and there was great 
suffering in the camp, many of the troops and colonists 
dying from hunger and exposure. Vargas called upon 
the Indians for one hundred bags of corn, which they 
furnished ; but when afterward required to furnish two 
Imndred more, they refused to supply it, and declared 
their willingness to fight sooner than give it up. They 
had been allowed to remain in actual possession of the 
town up to this time ; but the weather had now become 
so severe, that the priests petitioned the general to be 
allowed to occupy their houses. The corporation also 
begged for permission to take possession of the public 
buildings, then occupied by the Tanbs Indians, requesting 
that the latter should be sent to their pueblos on the 
Galisteo. 

In the meantime there were various rumors of a con- 
spiracy among the Indians, and the Spaniards .became 
more guarded in their movements. As a matter of pre- 
caution Vargas permitted the town council to occupy the 
palace, but declined acting upon the petition of the priests 
until the return of the men who had been sent to the 
mountains to cut timber for the repair of the church of 
San Miguel. They returned in a few days, without 
timber, alleging that the weather was too cold for them 
to bring it in. He now determined to take possession of 
the public buildings, and ordered the Tanos Indians to 
vacate them immediately and return to their pueblos. 

4 Supposed to be the hill on the left hand side of the TaoiS road^ 
about three hundred yards from the plaza. 



380 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO-. 

Upon receiving; this order they appeared excited and dis^ 
satisfied, but said nothing; they asked permission to 
remain in tlie Iniildings until the next day, which was 
granted them. TJieir conduct upon the occasion created 
suspicion in the mind of Vargas that they desired the 
deLay in order to accomplisli some hostile purpose, which 
]iad the effect of putting himself and followers more upon 
their suard. 



IME CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. S8i 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



THE INDIANS DEFEND SANTA FE, BUT IT IS TAKEN BY THE 
SFANIAEDS. 

During the day and night of the 24tli of December, the 
Indians counciled among themselves and resolved to op- 
pose the entrance of the Spaniards into Santa Fe, and 
made preparations for that purpose. In the evening a 
soldier, who understood their language, was in town and 
overheard them talking upon this subject. He returned 
to camp about ten o'clock, and reported to Vargas what 
he had heard, and the movements that were going on. 
The latter immediately assembled the troops under arms, 
collected the cattle, and made every preparation to attack 
the enemy at daylight. 

As soon as it was light enough the next morning to 
see, he marched the troops to the assault of the entrench- 
ments, which he found manned by the Indians, who 
saluted them as they advanced, witii shouts of defiance. 
When the noise and confusion had subsided so that he 
could be heard, he sounded a parley, and asked for a 
conference with them, being anxious to reduce them to 
■peace without bloodshed. He persuaded them to lay 



3S2 THE COXQrEST OF >s-EW MEXICO. 

down their arms, vrhicli thej reftised, but said theT tronld 
like to hold « cormcil to determine "what to do. Vargas 
was not \r illtng to allow them much time, for he was well 
convinced thev were awaiting reinforcements from the 
Jemez, Nabajo Apaches, and Taos Indians, but never- 
theless he granted them mitil that afternoon to come to 
terms. In the meantime he drew olF his troops and 
stationed them as near the town as practicable ; while he 
took the precaution to send the governor of the Pecos 
pneblo for his warriors to reinforce him and assist in the 
redaction of the place. The enemy failing to retnm an 
answer to Vargas's proposition in the aitemoon, as agreed 
upon, the Spanish forces were kept under arms all 
night close to the entrenchments. The Indians spent the 
night in scenes of revelrr and rejoicing. Thev made the 
to"s\Ti resound" with their war-cries and songs, and per- 
formed their various dances with all the pomp attending 
such ceremonies ; mingling their festivities with the most 
insulting language and shouts at' derision to the Spaniards. 
At etirly dawn the next morning, Vargas commanded his 
troops to stand to their arms preparatory to an assiiidt 
upon the Avorks. The priests absolved anew the whole 
command, and chanted the Alabado. When the Indians 
saw the Spaniards in battle array and witnessed the 
religious exercises, thev raised their war-crv and dischargei.1 
a shower of arrows from the port holes, and threw stones 
with slings from the entrenchments. The action was now 
fairly commenced. 

A'argas divided his troops inro iwo divisions, one being 
ordered to mount and attack the only door which com- 
municated with the works, while the other was directed 
to carry the entrenchments. They rushed to the assault 
umid a shower of missiles, shouting the old Spanish war- 



THE COXQr£ST CF ^ETV MEXICO. oSi^ 

err of Santiago. The lirst divimon aprroachet! tlie door 
and tried to cut it down, but tinding it too solid to be 
thns disposed of, thej set it on tire and burpt it down, 
when they entered and took possession of a house that 
communicated witk the principal estnfa. To reach the 
plaza it was vet necessary to scale the walls, which was 
hazardous and could only be accomplished with con- 
siderable loss ; but Yargas, knowing there was a large 
reinforcement close at hand, determined to lose no time 
in the attempt, and, if possible, secure the plaza before 
assistance could arrive for the garrison. He immediately 
set to work making scaling ladders, and providing beams 
to assist in climbing the walls ; but while thus engaged 
the reinforcements for the enemy wa^e seen approacliiucj. 
When the Indians saw their countrymen coming to their 
assistance, they renewed their war-cries and made a more 
fmnous resistance than before. From the first assault, a 
severe and constant fire had been kept up on both sides, 
to which the Indians now added boiling water wliieh they 
discharged upon those who were trying to undermine 
fheir works. 

Yargas now made disposition to resist this new force 
imd prevent it joining the gaorison. For this purpose he 
detailed five squadrons of cavalry, which were ordered to 
attack and disperse them before they should reach the 
town. * The cavalry charged and drove them back with 
the loss of five men, but they soon rallied and came much 
nearer than before. The Spaniards now attacked them 
a second time, withf the loss of four warriors, when they 
dispersed and did not again retum.to the charge. The 
battle had now continued all day and neither partv had 
gained any important advantage over the other, and, as 
evening drew nigh, they mutually ceased fightinsj. 



S84 THE CONQUEST OP NEW JIEXICO 

Wlien it grew dark Vargas stationed a strong guard 
around the town, commanding all the approaches, so as 
to prevent the enemy leaving, or reinforcements entering 
without his knowledge. One squadron garrisoned an 
cstufa which had been taken during the day. During the 
night the Indians permitted some of the soldiers, with 
whom they were acquainted, to enter their entrenchments, 
but no attempt was made to harm them, although they 
were completely in their power. The Indians had 
become much disheartened because their reinforcements 
had been repulsed and their chief badly wounded. 
Both parties slept upon their arms, but the night passed 
ftway without farther conflict. 

The contest had proved disastrous to the Indians, who 
had lost heavily in killed and wounded. They were novr 
well convinced that it would be useless to contend longer 
against the B[)aniards, and therefore suffered ^^argas to 
take possession of their entrenchments without opposition 
the next morning. He m.arched in with colors flying 
and music sounding, drove the enemy from their works, 
and took formal possession in the name of the king of 
Spain. He caused the roj^al banner to be hoisted upon 
the highest point of the entrenchments, and erected a 
cross over the door. The tov.m Vv-as now searched. In 
many of the houses warriors were found concealed, some 
of them wounded, who were first absolved by the priests 
and then executed by a party under the command of 
Koqne Madrid, the adjutant of the general. Four hun- 
dred women and children were captured, who were 
distributetl among the Spanish families, professedly for 
the purpose of converting them to christianty, but in 
fact to reduce them to slavery. The property of those 
executed was confiscated, among which Vv^ere two thou- 



'THE CONQUEST OF NEW InIEXICO. 38'5 

•sand fanegas of corn, besides a large quantity of beans, 
wheat and other articles of food. The grain was placed 
under a goard to prevent it being destroyed, and it was 
afterward furnished to the garrison and citizens. The 
whole number of Indians killed in the capture of Santa 
Fe was one hundred and sixty, including the seventy 
who were executed after it M'as taken. Two men were 
found hanging in the houses, one of whom was the 
governor, whom the Indians had hung that morning after 
the town had fallen. 

Although Santa Fe was in the possession of the 
Spaniards, the Indians by no means gave up, the contest, 
but commenced a system of harassing operations whicli 
they continued during the winter. In truth j;he victory 
was a fruitless one, for although Vargas and his com- 
mand were safe behind the defences of the town, they 
were beset by the Indians the moment they ventured into 
the country. They made frequent attacks upon the 
grazing camps and stole a number of the animals. The 
settlers and soldiers were both badly armed, and many 
of tlieir guns had already been broken and rendered 
Avorthless in their conflicts with the enemy. The Indians 
took advantage of this condition of things, and tlieir attacks 
^vere so often repeated and so violent that Vai-gas became 
alarmed for the safety of the garrison. In these con- 
flicts a few soldiers were killed and wounded, 'but the 
loss of the enemy was greater ; several of them were 
taken prisoners, who, after being absolved, were invaiiably 
shot. To add to other misfortunes the provisions and 
ammunition began to fail. A fresh supply was expected 
soon after the capture of the town, but the Vv'agons not 
arriving at the appointed time, Vargas sent a party of 
soldiers to Parral, in Durango, to fetch them. The 
25 



386 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO- 

■winter passed away in unceasing conflicts between tlic 
contending parties. When spring opened, and the 
weather would permit operations in the field, the general 
made preparations to march against the Indians to punish 
them for their hostility, and likewise to endeavor to re- 
cover the stolen animals. 

He marched from Santa Fe upon this expedition in the 
beginning of March, 1G94, at the head of twenty soldiers. 
It began to snow the morning he started, and the storm 
continued with great violence for three days. He came 
up with the Indians on the third day on the mesai 
beyond the pueblo of San Yldefonso, but the storm was 
so severe that he could not engage them. In the after- 
noon he captured seventy head of horses. Toward evening 
lie retired to the pueblo with his troops, w^here they took 
up their quarters for the night,, and threw up some slight 
defences to protect themselves and animals in case of 
attack. The weather was so inclement they were obliged 
to remain shut up in the village for three days, during 
which time the enemy constantly annoyed them. 

When the storm had ceased Vargas again took the 
field in pursuit of the Indians, who fled to their strong- 
hold upon the mesa. He followed them thither and 
reconnoitred their position, which he found to be strong, 
and could not be taken without much difficulty ; but 
notwithstanding tlie peril that must attend the enterprise, 
he ordered it to be attacked. The Indians received him 
with a shower of arrows and stones, and defended their 
camp with great bravery. The Spaniards soon possessed 
themselves of a small hill near their trenches and wall, and 

1 This is a short stretch of table land that lies on the east bank of 
the Del Norte, near the pueblo of San Yldefonso, and was a place 
of great resort for the Northern Indians. 



TUE CONQUEST (jF NEW MEXICO. 387 

would luivc gained the works but for a deep ravine that 
intervened and arrested their progress. Tlie action con- 
tinued until late in the afternoon, when Vargas was com- 
pelled to withdraw his troops, with the loss of two men 
wounded. The enemy had hfteen killed and wounded. 
The next day he sent his womided, with an account of 
the action, to Santa Fe. 

Vargas now changed his plan of operations. Leaving 
a small guard in charge of his animals, he marched with 
the main l^ody of his troops to the opposite side of the 
Del Norte, where they would be in a position to give 
greater annoyancc^o the enemy, and at the same time 
would be more secure from attack themselves. He 
remained in camp here a few days, when the cold became 
so intense that he found it necessary to change his posi- 
tion for the safety of his men. lie now ordered a second 
attack upon the mesa. He divided liis command into 
two parties, and caused the attack to be made at as many 
points at the same time. The soldiers, eager for. the 
fray, rushed to the assault, shouting their favorite war-cry. 
The ascent up the mesa slope to the works of the enemy 
was very steep, and the savages received them with 
shouts of defiance and hurled down upon them a storm 
of arrows and stones, which for a time checked their 
advance. Vargas encouraged his men to renewed exer- 
tions, both hj word and example, but it was impossible 
to overcome the resistance of the enemy, and the troops 
were obliged to retire with tho^j-oss of nine men, wounded, 
The loss of the Indians was eight or ten men killed and 
several wounded. The wounded Spaniards were imme- 
diately sent down to Santa Fe, together with a consider- 
able ({uantity of supplies obtained from the neighboring 
pueblos. The Indians, knowing that part of the Spanish 



388 THE CONQUEST OF NE^V IMEXICG. 

force had been dctaclicd as escort, and supposing Yarga;? 
to be too weak to resist tliem, determined to surprise and 
overcome liim in the night. Tlie Spaniards, who were 
informed of their intention, were on the alert and had 
the camp and animals both well guarded. Some- 
time before morning the Indians rushed to the attack in 
great numbers, and seemed determined to carry all before 
them ; but the soldiers met them with such determination 
and courage they were compelled to retii'e to the mesa 
A\dtli the loss of two killed, and several wounded. Being 
unsuccessful in this attack, they made no further attempt 
that night. w 

Vargas, seeing there was no hope of defeating the 
Indians in battle, on account of their greatly superior 
numbers — they being about five Imndred strong, while 
he had not more than fifty cifective men — determined, if 
possible, to bring them to terms in some other manner. 
For this purpose he cut oft' the supply ^of water they 
obtained from the river, a league from their camp, whicli 
put them to inconvenience, but did not have the desired 
effect. He maintained this condition of things nntil the 
19th of ]\Iareh, when, seeing that the enemy'still held ont 
without any indication of coming to termSj while his own 
men were sick from exposure, and their ammunition 
nearly exhausted, he was obliged to return to Santa Fe. 
During this campaign more than thirty of the enemy 
were killed, and a large number woimdcd. Vargas 
destroyed or consumed alLthe provisions found in four 
pueblos, and captured one hundred and fourteen horses 
and mules. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 389 



CHAPTER L. 



VARGAS MARCHES TO COCHITI, AND AFTERWARD MEETS 
THE INDIANS ON THE JIESA OF SAN YLDEFONSO. 



Immediately upon his arrival at Santa Fe, Vargas 
dispatclied an express to meet the party in charge of the 
ammunition that was on its way up from below, M'ith 
orders to hasten their march. About this time a deputa- 
tion arrived from the pueblos of Cia and Santa Ana, with 
information that tlie eneni}'- threatened the destruction of 
their villages, and asked for assistance to ward off the 
blow. With this request the general was not able to 
comply, for he had lately been informed that the enemy 
threatened an attack upon Santa Fe, and the whole of 
his force ^'■ould be required for its defence. The attack, 
however, was not made. Vargas^was now convinced 
that as long as the hostile Indians were in arms it would 
be impossible for him to afford adequate protection to tlie 
citizens and friendly Indians, and therefore he concluded 
to take the field against them with all his disposable force, 
and compel them to sue for peace if it were possible. 

He now marched for the camp of the enemy with a 
considerable body of Spanish soldiers and some Indian 
allies. Arrived there without accident, he halted his 



SW THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

forces at the foot of the mesa and made his disposItioD 
for the attack. He divided his command into three 
divisions, and at the word they assaulted the works upon 
as many sides simultaneously. The conflict was long 
and obstinate, but at last the Spaniards succeeded in 
gaining the mesa, when the enemy broke and fled in 
every direction. Seven. Indians were killed and a large 
number wounded, and thirteen men and over three hun- 
dred women and children were made prisoners. Among 
the spoils of war which fell into the hands of the victors 
were nine hundred head of sheep and over seventy horses 
and mules. The sheep and some other property were 
turned over to the friendly Indians, and the branded 
mules and horses were given up to their owners. The 
thirteen warriors who v/ere taken were shot. The next 
day an Indian came down from the mountains in search 
of the women and children, and as security against injury 
from tlie troops, he carried a large cross in his hand. 
When brought into the presence of Vargas and ques- 
tioned, he said the Teguas and Tanos Indians had induced ' 
his people to go to war, and that the latter were not to 
blame. He was told that all the pueblos would be destroyed 
unless the inhabitants returned and lived in them. He 
was directed to inform his people, when he sho*iild return 
to them, that they must bring in the principal men of the 
rebellion, and come back to their villages and live like 
Christians. An Indian named Zepe was a leading man 
in the present disturbance. 

T'he following day another warrior came into the 
Spanish camp, and reported that all liis people were 
weeping at the loss of their families; that they had 
already made Zepe and five other leading men prisoners, 
and were only waiting to capture a few more when *hey 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 391 

would bring them in. The fourth day after the fight 
Vargas sent a pack train and the wounded down to Santa 
Fe, under an escort. He established a g^-azing camp 
three leagues off, Avliere he placed a guard, and the 
balance of his men, only thirty-six in number, occupied 
the pueblo the Indians had built upon the mesa. The 
enemy seeing the "Spaniards in this weakened condition, 
and thinking they might be easily overcome, made 
an attack upon them. It was so sudden and unex- 
pected that they gained the mesa and had possession of 
all the outlets of the streets of the pueblo before their 
approach even was known. It was a complete surprise, 
and Vargas found himself surrounded by the foe. The 
Indians continued the assault for some time, but the 
Spaniards rallying and defending themselves with great 
bravery, some of the captives being put to death, and 
the enemy seeing they could not gain possession of the 
place, drew off and retired to the mountains. During 
the combat one hundred and fifty of the prisoners effected 
their escape and joined the enemy. The general suc- 
ceeded in holding the mesa until the 24th, when he was 
reinforced by the guard which had been in charge of the 
grazing camp on the west side of the river. In crossing 
the river corporal Almazan, one of the best soldiers of the 
little array, was drowned, a loss which caused great grief 
to Vargas. 

At this time Vargas received information from the 
officer in command at Santa Fe, that the town had been 
attacked by a very large body of Indians, which deter- 
mined him to return immediately to that place to give 
assistance to the garrison. He loaded his wagons with 
grain, set fire to the pueblo, and took up his march witli. 
the prisoners. That night he encamped at the old pueblo 



392' THE CONQUEST OF N'ET^' MEXICO- 

of San Yldefonso, where ]ie liberated the relatives of the 
tViendlv Indians taken in the fioi:ht. Here he o;ave the 
command of the troops to captain Hoqui Madrid, and set 
ont for Santa Fe, with a few soldiers as an escort, whei'o 
he arrived the next dav, the 2oth, at three o'clock in 
the afternoon. He received the most flattering reception 
from the 'clergy, the citizens and soldiers. The .enemy- 
had retired before his arrival, and the inhabitants were 
relieved of their fears. Captain j\Iadrid, with the re- 
mainder of the troops and the train, arrived there on the 
27th, without molestation from the Indians. 

There was now a short interval of peace, for the first 
time since the second entrance of Vargas into the country. 
After everything had been properly arranged, the 
prisoner's disposed of, and the animals sent to secnre 
grazing ground, he turned his attention to peaceful pur- 
s-uits of equally pressing im[)ortance. As spring was 
about to open, seed-time claimed his attention, and he 
made the necessary preparations for putting in the crops. 
Lands around Santa Fc were assigned to the soldiers for 
planting purposes, and a guard was detailed to protect 
those who worked in the fields. He also visited Tezuque, 
three leagues distant, to ascertain whether the inhabit- 
ants were putting in their crops ; but he found the pueblo 
deserted, and no indication that the Indians had been 
there for some time. He saw no fresh trails of the enemy 
in that neighborhood. 

In the early part of April Vargas visited the pueblo 
of Cochiti, in. the valley of the Del Norte for the purpose 
of settling the inliabitants of that, and the villages of 
Santo Domingo, San Felipe, and other neighboring ones, 
in their old pueblos ; and also to procure a supply of corn 
for the use of the garrison and citizens of Santa Fe. 



TME CONQUEST OF KEW MEXICO. 393 

While at Cocliiti he received a letter from friar Francisco 
Forfai), dated Los Patos, sixteen days' jonrney below El 
Paso, April the 3d. The reverend fathei-, who was on 
liis way, from ]\Iexico to Santa Fe, with several faraihes 
of emigrants, complained heavily of the severe hardships 
he encountered. lie says, among other things: "I have 
lost over one hundred and fifty mules; some have been 
stolep, some strayed, and others have died ; and the 
wagons are so heavy that it requires two pair of mules 
for the empty ones." The poor friar attributed all his 
mishaps on the road to the " devil with many legions, by 
Divine permission, in punishment of my sins." In speak- 
ing of the scarcity of provisions at El Paso he states that 
corn was not to be had there, and says that the fathers- 
Avrote him, that if they dined they did not sup, and if 
they supped they did not dine. These are but few of 
the severe trials these self-denying men were compelled 
to undergo in. settling New Mexico, and converting the 
heathen to Christianity. 

On the morning of the IStli of April an Indian of- the 
pueblo of San Marcos visited Vargas at Cocliiti, with a 
cross in his hand, and told him that his people were 
anxious to re-inhabit their pueblo, if they were permit ied 
to do so. He was directed to return and tell them they 
might re-occupy it upon condition that they would bring 
in Zepe and all the other principal men of the rebellion, 
tied. The next day two other Indians came to him 
with information that nearly all the principal men had 
been captured, and were then tied, and they Avere only 
waiting to catch a few others they were then in pursuit 
of, wlien they would bring" them all in. Presents were 
distributed among them, and they departed well pleased.. 

In the absence of Vargas, they had had more stirring 



394 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

times at Santa Fe. The Indians appeared before it in 
force on the 19th, and commenced an attack about nine 
o'clock in the morning. Some were mounted and others 
on foot. The garrison was weak, but defended itself 
with determined bravery. The troops marched out under 
the command of Louis Granillo, the commandant, to 
meet tlie enemy, and after a fight of three hours suc- 
ceeded in beating them off. They pursued them in 
their retreat as far as Tezuque, but being poorly mounted, 
while the Indians had good animals, they were unable to 
overtake them. The Spaniards sustained the loss of one 
man killed, a friendly Indian named Bernardino, and had 
fifteen horses run ofi:' from the Cieniga.i The enemy also 
stole the stock of Eusobia de Vargas. Granillo sent word 
of the attack to tlie general the same day, and besought 
him not to be alarmed for the safety of the town. 

In the meantime Vargas remained at the pueblo of 
Cochiti. On the 20th the war-captain of San Felipe 
came in and informed him that they had captured nine 
of the leaders of the rebellion, including the chief Zepe, 
and asked that the prisoners belonging to his pueblo 
should be liberated. This he declined to do until the 
captives were delivered to him, alleging that the Indians 
had deceived him once, and he would not trust them 
again. The war-captain tried various means to accom- 
plish his object, but failed. He went away promising 
laithfully to bring in and deliver up the captive cliiefs. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day a 
large body of Indians made an attack upon Cochiti. At 
the time there were but thirty-six soldiers in the village, 
the remainder having been sent out with the animals to 
graze, and as an escort for the train that went to Santa 

1 Meadows near the town. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 395 

Fe, loaded with corn. The troops were entirely off their 
guard, and had not their armor on when the attack was 
made, and the prisoners were engaged in shelling corn. 
They flew to arms at the first alarm, and fought the 
Indians man to man, and after a desperate struggle suc- 
ceeded in beating them off, but owing to their small 
number tliey were unable to pursue them. Move than half 
the prisoners made their escape during the fight. Vargas 
immediately called in the troops from the grazing camp, 
and took the necessary measures to resist a second attack. 
The horses were placed in the plaza, with a strong guard 
over them, and twenty were ordered to be kept saddled 
all night, to be ready to mount in case of a sudden 
assault. Loop-holes were cut in the houses in which the 
soldiers were quartered, to enable them to defend them- 
selves with more security. The enemy, however, did not 
renew the attack. 

Vargas now held a council with the principal captains 
of the pueblos of San Felipe, Santa Ana and Cia, and 
afterward liberated the prisoners belonging to these vil- 
lages. He furnisliQid them with a small escort to protect 
them on their way home, and also a guard while planting 
their corn, cotton, and other crops. They took their 
departure much pleased with the treatment they had re- 
ceived. Having accomplished the object of his visit to this 
place, Vargas left Cochiti on the 22d, for Santa Fe, where 
lie arrived the same afternoon. The train, with corn, 
came in soon after his arrival. Upon his return he com- 
pleted the distribution of the lands abandoned by the 
Indians among the citizens and soldiers, which he super- 
intended in person. 

The war-captain of the pueblo of Pecos, accompanied 



3^ THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO; 

by a deputation of eiglit Farreone Apaches, from the 
pLains, made him a visit on the 2d of May. After hold- 
ing a talk with tliem he gave them chocolate served upon 
a silver plate. He asked them if there was any of that 
kind of metal in their country, and told them if there was 
he would like them to bring it to him, " as it was very 
good for sore eyes and disease of the heart." They 
replied there was plenty of it at the foot of a small hill, 
vhere it was found in large rocks ; that it was very hard, 
and they had no means of breaking it ; but if he would 
give them an ax they would bring some of it to him. He 
asked them many questions about their country, particu- 
larly the distance from it to the country of the Tejas, 
which they said was six or seven days' journey to the first 
villages. He next inquired if there were any Spaniards 
in that country, to which they replied there had been 
some there ; but as they, the Indians, had not been there 
for some years, they could not tell whether they were 
there at that time. Vargas thought tliis information of 
importance, as he believed the Spaniards spoken of be- 
longed to the expeditions which counts Monclova and 
Galves, v/hen viceroys, liad sent into that country. The 
Indians said there were many watering places and a 
number of large rivers on the road, large lierds of buf- 
faloes, and an abundance of fruit in the summer season. 
On l^eing asked the distance from their country to that of 
the Quivira, they said it was from twenty-live to thirty 
days' journey; that they knew that country well, as they 
went there for captives to buy horses with. Tlie general 
then made them a present of an ax, and told them to re- 
turn by roasting-ear time to meet him at Pecos, when he 
would give them permission to trade with the Spaniards 

•i Probably the same as the Faraou Apaches. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW I^rEXlCO; 397 

Mid Pueblo Indians. They left well pleased, saying tliey 
would return at the time appointed. 

The Indians made another attack upon Santa Fe, and 
attempted to run oif the animals, on the 25th of May, hut 
the cattle being scattered among the hills, and the guard 
making a stout resistance, they did not succeed. Nonei 
were killed on either side, but a Taos Indian was made 
prisoner. The garrison was kept under arms, on the 
plaza, nntil seven o'clock in the evening, when the guard 
and animals arriving in safety, they Avere dismissed. No 
further hostile demonstration was made. The prisoner, 
npon being questioned, informed Vargas that the ten 
pueblos of the Teguas and Tanos, the three pueblos of 
Taos, with the Indians of Jemez, Picoris, and a few of 
the Queres nation from the mesa of Cochiti, had risen in 
arms and were assembled ready to commence hostilities. 

Upon receipt of this information Vargas resolved to 
anticipate the attack of the rebels, and the same evening 
he left Santa Fe with his disposable force for the mesa 
of San Yldefonso, where they were assembled. He 
arrived there about four o'clock in the morning, and 
made immediate dispositions to attack their camp. lie 
stationed his troops at different points of the mesa, and 
sent his horses over the river so they wonld be secure 
from capture. In making a reconnoissance of the enemy's 
position he succeeded in capturing one of their principal 
chiefs, a boy twelve or fourteen years of age, and several 
horses. The charge being now sounded, the troops rushed 
to the attack. The Indians met them half way np the 
slope, when a long and severe struggle took place for tlie 
possession of the mesa, which resulted in Vargas being 
obliged to retire, leaving the enemy in possession of tlie 
Held. The Indian loss was one killed and one wounded ^ 



398 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO- 

thc latter being- carried to tlic Spaui-oli camp w'liere lua 
wounds were dressed, and twenty-eight bead of uniiuals 
captured. Tbc troops retired a sliort distance, to draw 
the Indians down from tbc mesa so tbey could meet them 
upon more equal grounds. Tbey pursued tlie retiring- 
Spaniards into tbc bottom, wbere a second ligbt took 
place, in wliicb tbe latter were eompletely victorious. 
The loss of tbe enemy was one killed and one wounded, 
that of tbc soldiers not being mentioned. The same 
night tbe general returned to Santa Fc with tbe animals 
lie had captured, and delivered them to their respective 
owners. 

Vargas remained but one day at Santa Fe, when he 
returned again to the mesa of San Yldefonso, for tbe 
purpose of driving the Indians entirely from it, as be bad 
left many there after tbe last fight, lie hoped to be able 
to draw them down again upon level ground where ho 
could en2:a£!;e them to better advantage. He arrived 
within three leagues of their position about two o'clock in 
the morning, whence he could sec their camp fires burning 
brightly. He continued bis march to a creek near by, 
wbere be baited and threw out spies to reconnoitre their 
camp. Tbey returned about nine o'clock, and reported 
that tbe Indians were still upon the mesa, and from the 
stir and bustle in their camp they must have discovered 
the approach of the troops. Vargas determined to attack 
tbeui without further delay. He divided bis force into 
three divisions and marched them to the river, hoping 
to be able to capture a straggling Indian from whom he 
could obtain information. He saw two of tbe enemy a 
little way off, but both of them were killed while attempt- 
ing to escape. Here tbe Spaniards halted and break- 
fasted. He now made a careful reconnoissancc of tbe sur- 



THE CONQUEST OP NEW MEXICO. 399 

rounding country, and succeeded in capturing a Tanos 
Indian. The prisoner gave information that a large 
number of the Taos, Picoris, Jemez, and other Indians. 
. had left the mesa and returned to their respective pueblos 
to plant their crops ; and that those who remained had 
planted in the valley of the Del Norte. As the Indians had 
generally returned to their villages, and seemed disposed 
to plant, A^argas deemed it most prudent not to molest 
them. They had been a good deal harassed since hostil- 
ities commenced, and had lost many men, and he 
judged they would be more likely to come in and make 
terms if allowed to put in their crops in peace. He 
therefore returned with the troops to Santa Fe, to give 
them rest after the hard service they had performed, as 
also to aiford proper protection to the town in case it 
should be again attacked by the enemy. 



^00 THE C0:N QUEST OP NEW JfEXIOO 



CHAPTEE LI. 



THE IKDiANS AGAIN BECOME HOSITLE, AND A'ARGAS MARCHES 
AGAINST THE TAOS PUEBLOS. 

After the return of Vargas from the mesa of San 
Yklefouso to Santa Fe, as narrated at the close of the 
hist chapter, there was again a short interval of peace. 
The Indians were engaged in plifnting, while the Span- 
iards also prepared their fields and pnt in their crops, 
anct recruited themselves after the severe service of the 
past winter and spring. About this time a considerable 
reinforcement of settlers arrived from El Paso, who were 
quartered and supported in the town until lands could be 
assigned them and they were in a condition to raise 
crops and support themgelves. The wagons, with a 
supply of ammunition and provisions, did not reach 
Santa Ee until late in June. 

The Indians having finished planting, resumed hostil- 
ities. On the 14th of June a party from Jemez made an 
attack upon Cia and Santa Ana, two friendly pueblos, 
and ran off their stock. The inhabitants sent word of it 
to Vargas, and asked for protection. He dispatched ten 
mounted men to assist in their defence, but Avhen the 
^soldiers reached the Del Norte they found it so nuicli 



TlIE CCXQUEST' GF NEW MEXICO. 401 

'!fi"vrollen by the melting snow and rains, tliat they were 
wnable to cross. The river continued high for several days, 
and on tlie 30th it was still impassable. In the mean 
while, however, the Tegnas and other Indians, on the east 
•side of the river, having committed depredations Vargas 
determined to march against them. He left Santa Fe, 
■M-ith his disposable force, in the direction of the mesa of 
• San Yldefonso, and the same day he came within sight 
of a party of fourteen of the enenay, to whom he gave 
chase. He succeeded in killing eleven, while the re- 
■ mainder made their escape to the mesa. In the evening he 
■encamped upon the bank of the Del JSTorte. The Indians 
he \vas pursuing had been joined by those of the pueblos 
of Taos and Picoris ; and he was satisfied, from the trails 
and other signs, that the enemy were- around him on 
all sides. Leaving his camp he marched directly to 
Picoris to chastise the inhabitants of that village, in case 
they should be hostile. Upon entering the pueblo In; 
found it deserted. He caused a cross to be erected on 
the plaza, when he retired, some little distance and en- 
•camped ; thus giving evidence to the Indians that he diil 
not intend to injure them. During tlK3 night the fires 
of the enemy were seen burning along the l)ase of thi; 
mountains in many directions, but his camp was not dis- 
turbed. 

The next morning he resumed the march for Taui. 
His route lay through a country very rough and dilficult 
of travel, and the Indians made several hostile demon- 
strations, but did not attack him. He pursued his course 
without opposition, and entered the pueblo on the after- 
noon of the 3d of July. He found all the houses deserted, 
but in most of them crosses had been erected as a protec;- 
-tion from pillage. Fearing an ambuscade, he took the 
26" 



402 THE CONQUEST OF NEW SlEXI'C^. 

necessary precaution against it. Supposing the rn" 
dians had fled to a very deep gorge, in a neighboring 
mountain, he marched thither to explore it. On his •\vay 
he was met by a party of friendly Apaches from the 
plains, who informed him that the Taos Indians had left 
their pueblo that morning, and sought safety in a mountain 
ravine called the funneh They had requested the Apaches 
to go and meet the Spaniards, telling them they would 
not be harmed. Vargas continued his march, and as he 
drew near their place of refuge he discovered their camp, 
at the entrance of the gorge. Some of the Indians made 
their appearance, whom he invited to come and hold a 
council, pledging himself not to injure them. The chief, 
Pacheco, responded and came out to him, but he could 
not be persuaded to return.with his people to the pueblo. 
Seeing the effort fail, the governor of Pecos requested 
permission to remain all nicrht with the rebels in order to 
have a talk and endeavor to persuade them to return to 
their village. The Indians, with their arms 'in their 
hands, were now seen descending the mountain in great 
numbers, and Vargas fearing they might do some injury 
to the governor, should he remain among them, endeav- 
ored to dissuade him from staying; but persisting in 
his request permission was at length given him. It 
was now late in the day, and Vargas returned to liis 
command, which had halted and encamped a short dis- 
tance in the rear. Upon bidding adieu to Pacheco he 
told him he would expect to see him at camp the next 
morning, but the chief made no response. 

Some time in the night after the troops had retired to 
rest, a confused noise was heard in the direction of the 
enemy, and in the course of an hour four or five rebel In- 
dians came in and informed Vargas that the governor o4 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 403 

Pecos had sent for liis warriors to assist them in fighting 
the Spaniards. This he did not beheve, and was incensed 
at tiie deception they wished to practice. He told the mes- 
sengers to inform the Taos Indians that if they were not 
in their pueblo by one o'clock the next day he would 
destroy it, with its contents, and if they should do the 
least injury to the governor of Pecos nothing could save 
them from his wrath. He further directed them tc 
release him immediately if they had him prisoner. There 
was no further alarm during the night. The Indians 
not coming down from the mountain and occupying 
the pueblo by the time fixed by the general, he gave 
liis soldiers orders to sack it, which was accordingly 
done. They found in it a considerable quantity of corn, 
which was shelled and put into sacks for the use of the 
troops. Some of the Indians came down to get corn for 
their families, and Vargas allowed them to carry a part 
of it away for this purpose. On the night of the 5th a 
great number of fires were seen blazing around, and the 
general thought the enemy meditated an attack, but none 
was made. He now prepared to return to Santa Fe. 
The friendly Indians advised him that his only chance tc 
carry the corn with him was to march through the Utah 
comitry, as the roads were so bad on the other routes that 
he would not be able to get along with the packs. He 
followed their advice, and took the course they pointed 
out. 

He left camp at two o'clock the next morning, choosing 
this hour as the one when the enemy would be less likelv 
to observe his movements. When he had marched about 
a league the Indians made signal fires, which were an- 
swered by others on the mountains, along the base of 
which he was marching. Six or seven leagues further on 



404 KIE CONQUEST OF KEW JIEXICO. 

lie came to a creek, on the bank of which there was ah 
Indian ambuscade about an hundred strong. Some at- 
tacked his advance, while others attempted to capture 
the packs, but they were repulsed on all sides, with the 
loss of five killed and several wounded. A warrior, badly 
wounded, was made prisoner, who stated that the whole 
of the eneni}^ were on the road waiting for the Spaniards, 
Mud that the chief, Pacheco, had thirty spies watching 
their movements. They were seen to leave camp, and 
the fires were kindled to give notice to the Indians. 
Having obtained this information from their prisoner, he 
was absolved and then shot. 

Vargas marched through a mountainous and well- 
timbered region, and at six o'clock the same afternoon, 
reached the Colorado, the first stream of the Utah 
countr3^ He caused a number of fires to be built to in- 
vite the Indians to his camp, but none came. He 
continued liis route, and on the 9th reached the Del 
Xorte, down w^hich he marched about three leagues to a 
point where the river divides and forms an island. The 
next day he crossed the river and marched four leagues 
to a beautiful valley filled with buftaloes w'hich furnished 
food for the Utahs. These Indians allowed no other 
people than the Spaniards, with Avliom they traded, to 
enter their country. They had expelled the neighboring- 
tribes which caused a long and Ijloody war. Wheii he 
reached this point his provisions were exhausted, and the 
troops had to subsist upon corn, which they parched ; 
he halted here for the day, to allow time for the Utahs to 
come in, and also to afford the soldiers an opportunity to 
procure a supply of fresh meat. He sent out a hunting 
party of eighty men in pursuit of bufialo, but they only 
succeeded in killing fifteen, and a few large deer. They 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 405 

saw immense herds, but when they were fired at, they 
ran away with such swiftness that but few could be over- 
taken. That night they had a grand feast in camp and 
made the mountains resound with their merriment. The 
next day Vargas, with an hundred men, went out 
hunting, but tliey were not able to kill as many as the 
first party, and. only brought in ten buffaloes and a few 
deer. He caused the meat to be cut up and packed to 
he ready to move early in the morning. 

About daylight, as the Spaniards were preparing to 
march, the camp was attacked on all sides by about three 
lumdred . Indians. They sounded their war-cry and 
discharged a shower of arrows. As they were supposed 
to be Utahs, the soldiers had orders to act only on tho 
defensive, as Vargas did not desire to come to blows with 
that powerful tribe ; but five of his men being already 
wounded and the Indians still continuing their fire, he 
ordered a general attack, in which eight Spaniards were 
killed. The guard being now mounted, charged the 
enemy ; and meanwhile the remainder of the soldiers had 
time to mount and come to their support. The Indians 
immediately commenced a retreat. A river was near the 
camp, which they were obliged to cross, and as it was 
difiicult of passage, and they carried their killed and 
wounded with them, they met with considerable loss in 
crossing. They succeeded, however, in getting over, 
and when they had reached the opposite side they hoisted 
a deer-skin in token of peace, and cried, in the language 
of their country, A}ic/ie, Paviche^ the first meaning 
" brother," and the second " friend." From this signal 
they were recognized to be Utahs, and were invited to 
come to the Spanish camp, where they were kindly 
veceived. 



406 THE CONQUEST OF NEY/ MEXICO. 

Upon being asked why they had made the attack upon 
the Spaniards, they gave the following reason in excuse. 
They said the Indians aronnd Santa Fe had often invaded 
their country dressed and armed like Spaniards, and 
under this guise had done them a great deal of harm. 
They had come upon the camp in the night and were not 
able to distinguish whether or not they were Spaniards, 
and therefore they made the attack. They expressed a 
desire to live upon friendly terms with the Spaniards, and 
as evidence of this had called them brothers and friends. 
They had suffered some loss in the action ; and among 
the killed was a brother of one of their captains, but they 
manifested no regret at his death. Vargas gave the 
■captain of the Utahs a horse and some other articles, at 
which he was much pleased. In return he invited the 
general to go to his camp, telling him he had a good deal 
of peltry, and would like to trade. This invitation was 
declined, but the chief was invited to bring his skins 
down to Santa Fe, where he could barter to better ad- 
vantage. The Indians then left the Spanish camp well 
satisfied with their treatment. 



■?rEE COXQUEST OF NEW MEXICO^ 407 



CHAPTER LIL 



an expedition marches against jemez. with the 
eesult; conclusion. 

Resuming the mai-cli after the skirmisli with the Utah 
Indians, tlie Spaniards in two days reached the Ojo 
Caliente river without opposition ; and in two days more 
they passed the boundary of the Utah country. The 
general moved witli great caution along this part of his 
route, being apprehensive the Indians might attack him. 
in retahation for those killed in the late action, but he 
was not molested. He passed on the way an abandoned 
pueblo which he supposed to be that of San Gabriel, the 
same at which Don Juan de Ouate had encamped and 
named. It was situated six leagues from the junction of 
the river Zamai with the Del Norte. Continuing down 
the western bank of the latter river to a point just above 
the pueblo of San Juan, he crossed over to the eastern 
side and encamped. As soon as his presence was known, 
the rebel Indians of that vicinity kindled signal fires on 
the mesa to give information of his approach to those of 
San Yldefonso. He broke up his camp the next morning, 
and putting the main body of his troops en route for 

J The sajJie as the river Chaiaa. 



•508 THE CG-NQUEST OF WEW MEXiaa 

Santa Fe by the direct road, he proceeded with a guard;'' 
of forty men to reconnoitre the mesa. On approaching-, 
it he found a large nmnber of Indians assembled there, 
who received him with their war-cry and shonts of defi- 
ance, and being strongly posted they tried to draw liim 
into a fight. This he declined because of the small num- 
ber of his force and his being encumbered witli his pack- 
nmles. He continued his march to rejoin the main body 
across a rough and rocky country to the pueblo of 
Pojuaque, being pursued by the enemy, who made many 
demonstrations of attack. The troops encamped ihrjt 
night at the pueblo of Tezuque, while Vargas inarclied 
to Santa Fe, where he arrived at three o'clock the same 
afternoon, the 14th of July. He had been absent seven- 
teen days, and during the time hud marched one hundred 
and tvv^enty leagues. 

By this time the Del Norte having fallen so as to bj 
fordable without danger, Vargas determined to march 
into the Queres nation, to protect them from the tin-eat- 
ened attack of the Jemez Indians. Another motive 
which induced him to make a campaign thither, was to 
obtain a supply of corn for Santa Fe. Fie left the capital 
with a force of one hundred and twenty mounted men, 
but did not inform his oflicers of the object of the expedi- 
tion until he arrived at the pueblo of La Cieneguilla.j 
Thence he proceeded to Santo Domingo, where he left a 
small force under the command of his lieutenant-general. 
At this place he received information, by an Indian ex- 
press, that on the day before the Jemez and Apache 

2 The exact situation of this pueblo is not known at the present day, 
but it was somewhere between Santa Fc and Santo Domingo. Some 
ruins are found in the caiion of the river of Santa Fe, and these maf 
be the remains, of La Cieneguia, as it is sometimes spelled». 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 4C9 

Indians bad made an attack upon the puelolo of Cia and 
killed four of the inhabitants. He immediately sent tbo 
express back with word that be was on bis march witli 
relief. He crossed the Del Norte in sight of the mesa of 
San Felipe, and marched direct for Cia. He had not 
])roceeded far when he was met by captain Bartolome de 
Ujeda, a friendly Indian, who thanked him in the name 
of his people for the assistance he was abont to render the 
friendly pneblos. Vargas dispatched Ojeda back to Cia 
and directed him to tell the inhabitants that be wonld 
march to Jemez, in the first instance, to chastise these 
Indians, and that they must be ready to accompany him 
l)y the time he should ai'rive at their village. 

He reached the pueblo of Santa Ana, on Friday, the 
23d of July, and entered Cia the same afternoon at sun- 
set. The inhabitants awaited his coming with great 
anxiety, and welcomed him as their deliverer. He re- 
sumed the march for Jemez, without delay, accompanied 
by a number of Indian allies ; having arranged his plan of 
attack upon that village with the governor and cacique 
of Cia before he started. The Indians' of Santa Ana and 
Cia, with ^twenty-live soldiers, were to make the attack 
on the side next the cultivated fields, and on the road 
that led to the Teguas nation, vrhile the balance of the 
force, under the command of Vargas in person, was to 
assault the opposite side of the town. Upon reaching the 
pueblo he found the Indians had abandoned it, and gone 
upon the bill-, near hy. They had moved everything up, 
even to the timber of their houses, intending to build a 
new village there. The Spaniards reached the foot of 
the hill about sunrise, when Vargas ordered his division 
of the forces to dismount preparatory to making the ascent, 
at the same tune directinf2: tlie coramand of Eusebio Var- 



410 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

gas to go round to the opposite side and make the ascent 
there. The Indians discovered their approach, but by 
reason of the assault being made at two points, at the 
same time, their attention and force were divided, and 
they were not able to make so good a defence as they 
might have made under other circumstances. 

The Indians, however, oifered a determined resistance. 
They discharged a shower of arrows, and also rolled down 
large stones upon the assailants. After a spirited contest, 
captain Antonio Georje succeeded in possessing himself 
of one of the entrances to the works, when the Indians 
retreated, some throwing themselves headlong from the 
top' of the hill. The troops pursued the enemy, but 
owing to the roughness of the country they could not be 
overtaken. -As soon as the soldiers had taken possession 
of the penol, or hill, they entrenched themselves aud 
prepared for defence. In the meantime several of the 
Indians who had been driven from the hill had manned 
their houses and again opened a fire upon the Spaniards. 
The houses were fired, and four warriors and one woman 
were burned to death ; fifty-five were left dead upon the. 
field, and two made prisoners who were afterward shot. 
The whole number which fell before the place was taken 
was eighty-four, and three hundred and seventy women 
and children were captured. Eusebio Vargas killed 
fifteen with his own hands. There were taken from the 
enemy one hundred and seventy-six head of sheep, of 
which number one hundred head were given to the gov- 
ernor of Cia for the use of his people, and the balance 
were divided among the soldiers. The four horses cap- 
tured ®were given to the oflicers. Among the spoils 
was a large quantity of corn, which was first taken to the 
old pueblo and shelled, and was afterward iSent to 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 411 

Santa Fe, a present supply for the troops. The prison- 
ers, under a guard of forty sokliers and eighty friendly 
Indians, were marched to the old pueblo, and a guard of 
twelve men and a corporal was left in command of the 
peiiol. In his report to the viceroy Vargas says : " This 
action having been fought the day before Santiago day, 
I believe that that glorious apostle and patron interceded 
in our behalf, and which was the cause of our signal 
success." 

Vargas remained encamped at the pueblo several days, 
in which time he collected and sent three hundred fanegas 
of shelled corn to the inhabitants of Santa Fe. On the 
evening of the eighth day the guard on the pefiol cap- 
tured an old Indian, who was conveyed to headquarters 
and interrogated. Upon being asked where his people 
were, he replied that they were scattered over the coun- 
try ; but the response not suiting Vargas, he ordered hiin 
to be absolved and then shot. The next day another spy 
was brought in, who, upon being questioned, said* that he 
belonged to the Queres nation, and knew where the 
Indians had concealed their corn ; he was placed in con- 
finement to be of future use. When the friendly Indians 
who had convoyed the corn to Santa Fe returned, they 
informed Vargas that this prisoner was a war-chief of the 
enemy, and had been sent to Acoma and Zuui to per- 
suade these Indians to declare war against the Spaniards. 

Vargas was anxious to obtain the remains of friar Juan 
de Jesus, who was killed during the rebellion, but had 
some difficulty in finding his burial place. An old man and 
woman professed to know the place where he had been 
buried, and Vargas accompanied them to the old pueblo 
to have them point it out. They designated a spot near 
the estufa, and upon examination being made bones were 



4'12 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. ' 

discovered, "wliicb, from their size, were declared to liavs 
belonged to the deceased priest. A portion of his cloth- 
ing was found in the grave; and a piece of an arrow, 
about six inches long, Avas sticking in the back-bone. 
The remains were disinterred which, after proper religious 
ceremoDy had been performed, were taken to camp. 

Vargas marched from Jemez on the Sth of August, the 
guard on' the pefiol first setting fire to the houses and 
joining the main body in the pueblo below. He arrived 
at Santa Fe on the 24tli,3 without meeting the least op- 
position from the Indians. The next day after his arrival 
the remains of father Jesus, Avhicli they had brought 
from Jemez, were interred in the parish church with 
appropriate religious services. They were placed in 
a coffin lined with yellow damask, together with a certi- 
ficate setting forth the circumstances of their discovery, a 
duplicate of Avhicli was forwarded if> the custodian in 
3Iexico. Priest Jesus had been killed on the second day 
of the rebellion, and it was just fourteen years from his 
death to his burial at Santa Fe. On the 15th two Jemez 
Indians came in with proposals of peace, who said they 
had been sent by the governor and the whole nation to 
ask for peace, and the restoration of their wives and chil- 
dren. A treaty was made with them, and again the 
conqueror and the conquered were on friendly terms 
Vv'itli each other. 

Peace being now restored, the two races for a time 
maintained amicable relations, and no further disturbance 

3 There must be an error in the day of the month when Vargas 
arrived at Santa Fe from Jemez, as the distance between these points 
is only a little more than fifty miles, and the troops, being all mounted, 
should have marched it in two or three days. They probably arrived 
there on the 10th, and buried the remains of the priest on the 11th, 
The old MSS. give no further information on this point. 



J 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 413 

took place iinlil 1696, when a partial rebellion broke out. 
In that year the Indians took advantage of a famine, that 
prevailed to an alarming extent, to rise in arms. This 
famine is noted in the annals of JSTew j^Iexico, and Vargas 
himself is charged with being the cause of it. The year 
before, priest Antonio Fartan brought to the country seven 
hundred, lanegas of corn intended for the support of the 
garrison and citizens of Santa Fe. It was delivered to 
Vargas who, insteac> of appropriating it to its legitimate 
object, made use of it for his private purposes. He issued 
a little to the citizens, as a special favor, giving them a 
"plateful, each, at a time. There was corn enouo-h to last 
four months, had it all been distributed, but the general 
retained so much for his own use that the balance did not 
last mere than one month. The consequence was, that 
a severe famine took place the following year. The 
people suffered terribly. They were reduced to such 
want that they ate all the dogs, cats, horses, mules, and 
bull-hides they could lay their hands on, and also boiled 
and" roasted all the herbs they could collect ; and the 
dried bones of horses and mules Avere picked up and 
boiled for soup. After they had consumed all tiie filth 
they could find they went to the mountains and roamed 
about for food like wild animals. Many persons, both 
citizens and soldiers, to save their lives hired them- 
selves and their wives to the Indians to bring wood and 
water and grind cOrn. During the famine over two hun- 
dred persons died of ^rvation and 'from eating filthy and 
unwholesome food. Four of the citizens deserted durino- 
this trying time and made their way to El Paso, from 
which place they were brought back by Juan Paes Hur- 
tado, the commanding oflicer at tliat place. Vargas 
caused them to be hung, and even denied them the last 



414 THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 

consolation of religion. Their wives and children were 
left in a most destitute condition. 

The Indians, beholding the distressed and weakened 
condition of the Spaniards, considered it a favorable mo- 
ment to take up arms, and accordingly, in the month of 
June, 1G96, they broke out in rebellion. The conspiracv 
extended among fourteen pueblos. They put to death" 
thirty-four Spaniards and five priests-^— many of the former 
having been driven among them to fed subsistence — and 
burnt the churches and desecrated the sacred vessels. 
During the rebellion more than two thousand Indians 
perished in the mountains, while as many more deserted 
their villages and joined the wild tribes, leaving the 
country in many parts ]iearly depopulated. 

In the year 1695 the corporation of Santa Fe, mid the 
regiment in garrison there, presented charges fo the 
viceroy against Vargas, for peculation. He was accused 
of using the public money for his private pui*poses, instead 
of expending it for the benefit of the citizens, for which 
object the government had appropriated it. In their 
petition they se.t forth numerous sums of money that he had 
drawn from the public treasury at divers times to pur- 
chase corn and other provisions, and horses and mules 
for the settlers, and they cliarged him with selling the 
animals and putting the money into his ov;n pocket. He 
was also accused of having" drawn drafts and received 
money for expenses never incurred. For these causes he 
was removed from ofiice in 1697, ^d Don Pedro Eodri- 
guez Cubero was appointed in his place. How long Cubero 
remained in office the records dp not inform us ; neither 
have I been able to find any account of his administration. 
In 1703, however, Vargas was again sent into New Mexico, 
as the military commandant of the province, which would 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 415' 

lead us to infer that he had been acquitted of the charges 
made against him eight years before, and once more 
enjoyed the confidence of the viceroy. The Spanish 
conquest of New Mexico may be said to have been com- 
pleted at this period, and the power of the Indian nations 
completely broken. The authority of the Spaniards was 
acknowledged in all the pueblos, and both civil and ec- 
clesiastical jurisdiction 'was extended over them.^ 

4 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, once so numerous and power- 
ful, at the present day inhabit twenty-six villages situated principally 
in the valley of the Del Norte, and the whole population does not ex- 
ceed ten' thousand. Anciently they composed four distinct nations, 
speaking as many languages, namely, the Piros, Teguas, Queres, and 
Tagncs or T&os, but the villages of the latter have gone to ruins and 
the population passed away ; or if any of them remain, they have 
become incorporated with other pueblos. They still live in little com- 
munities, distinct from the Mexican population, and are governed by 
their own local customs and laws. Each village is distinct from the 
others, and there is no common bond of union between them. Their 
officers are a governor, a justice of the peace, or alcalde, styled 
cacique, a. fiscal, or constable, to execute the laws, and a "council 
of wise men." These are the civil officers, and in addition there is a 
" war-captain," who attends to military affairs. They have been made 
to embrace Christianity and worship according to the forms of the 
Roman Catholic church, priests being staiioned in many of the vil- 
lages. They are a quiet and orderly people, and form a meritorious 
class of the population of the territory. They are industrious and 
frugal, and live in harmony with each other and the surrounding Mex- 
ican population. A few hundred acres of land belong to each pueblo 
\vliich, for purposes of cultivation, is parceled out to the respective 
families. They raise grains, vegetables and fruits, manufacture some 
wine, and possess considerable flocks 'and herds. They cultivate by 
means of irrigation. They have retained, in a great measure, their 
aboriginal costume, and dress either in skins, or woolen goods of their 
own manufacture. Their food is simple and wholesome, consisting 
mainly of beans, peppers and corn-meal, which are prepared in a 
manner peculiar to these people. They are ignorant and superstitious, 
but brave ; and instead of increasing in numbers appear to be gradually 
decreasing. 



416 THE COXQUEST OF NEW MEXICO 

It is the belief of many persons that the Pueblo Indians of New MesicC 
Trere reclaimed from a wild state and were settled in villages by the 
Spaniards, an error it is hardly necessary to combat after the proof to 
the contrary to be found in this volume. This race is identical with 
the one the Spaniards found in New Mexico on their first exploration 
of the country — in manners, customs, mode of living, &c., ar^d dif- 
fers but little from the aboriginies of Mexico proper. Early after the 
conquest, the Spanish government became sensible of the wisdom of a 
policy that would conciliate a people so numerous and so powerful as 
the native inhabitants of Blexico ; and afccordingly, in 'ii>23, the em- 
peror Charles V. authorized the viceroys and governors to grant a 
certain quantity of laud to each village. In 1503 the mountains, pas- 
tures, and waters were made common to both Spaniards and Indians. 
The decree of Philip II., dated June, 15S7, conlirmed, to the various 
pueblos, or villages, eleven hundred varas square of land, v/hich was 
aftervrard increased to a league square. Some of the decrees state that 
the Indians were not to have any higher title in the land than the right 
of possession ; and the ordnance of Philip IV., of March IGth, 1642, pro- 
vides that the lands, which the Pueblo Indians have in any manner 
improved by their industrj-, shall be reserved to them, but that they 
shall neither have power to sell nor alienate the same. The decree of 
the Royal Audience of Mexico, of February 23, 1781, confirmatory of 
that of Philip III., of October 20th, 1598, prohibits the Pueblo Indians 
selling, renting, leasing, or in any other manner disposing of their 
lands to each other or to third parties, without the consent of said 
Royal Audience. These authorities prove two facts — if there were no 
other evidence on these points — first, that the Spaniards found the 
Indians already settled in villages, and confirmed land to them to con- 
ciliate them ; and second, that said grants of land were held by right 
of possession only, the fee-simple remaining in the crown of Spain, 
from which it passed to the government of Mexico, and subsequently 
to the Uuited States, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 

If space permitted, it would be interesting to inquire the probable 
origin of the Pueblo Indians and whence they came. There are two 
•theories on this subject — one, that they are of Aztec origin, and the 
other, that they are the remains of a Toltec colony. According to 
tradition, when the Aztecs peopled New Mexico they came from the 
North or North-Avest, and only reached their new homes in the valley 
of Auahuac after a peiiod of an hundred and fifty years — halting 
from time to time, and building villages and cultivating the earth. 
•Castafieda was of opinion that the Pueblo Indians came from the 
-]y orth-west. If this were the case some of the migrating Aztecs must 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO. 417 

have remamed in New Mexico and not moved on with tlie main body. 
There is a tradition among them, that they are the people of Monte- 
zuma. The survivors of the Pecos pueblo believed that he would 
return to deliver them from the Spaniards down to the time they be- 
came extinct — while the God of Laguna is called by his name. All 
the pueblos keep up the estufa, because it is said to have been instituted 
by Montezuma, A Jemez Indian told lieutenant Simpson that God 
and the sun were one and the same. Baron Humboldt contended that 
the Aztec language differed essentially from that of the Pueblo Indians, 
and Castaneda declared that the latter were unknown to the inhab- 
itants of Mexico until Vaca and his companions brought information 
of them. The late Albert Gallatin believed them to be of Toltec origin. 
Notwithstanding there are many facts in opposition to the theory 
that the Pueblo Indians and the Aztecs belong to the same race, the 
similitude between their manners and customs, and their mode of 
building and living would argue an identity ; and if, upon careful in- 
vestigation their language shall be found substantially the same, the 
evidence on the subject would appear quite conclusive. 

27 



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INDEX 



A. 

Apalaclie, town of, captured, 2G. 

Aute, Spaniards arrive at, 2'J. 

Army, the, marches ialaud, 23 ; 
raised to conquer Cibola, 142 ; 
reviewed by the viceroy, Hi; 
enters Culiacan, 149 ; Arellano 
to command, 150 ; marches from 
Culiacan, 15G; resumes march 
for Cibola, 158 ; arrives at Cibo- 
la, 159 ; marches for Tiguex, 
183; goes into quarters, 184; 
reaches Tiguex, 195 ; encamps 
at great ravine, 209 ; continues 
its march on^^e plains, 212; re- 
mains encamped at valley, 217; 
returns to Tiguex, 223 ; how 
guided, 223 ; winters at Tiguex, 
227 ; makes preparations to re- 
turn to Quivira, 228 ; ordered to 
return to Mexico, 230 ; leaves 
Tigvjes for New Spain, 231 ; ar- 
rives at Culiacan, 233 ;, sickness 
in, 232. 

Alaniz and Ovieda left on an 
island, 5(3. 

Avavares, 70. 

Arbadacjs, 76. 

Alcaraz, Diego de, 106, 

Acus, 122. 

Apacus, 128. 

Alarcon, Pedro, sails for Nativi- 
dad, 143. 

Aqjlxas, 146. 

Attack of Indians reported, 101. 

Alvarado marches for CicujCj 177 ; 
reaches Tiguex, 179, 



, Acuco, town of, 177 ; hostile, 178 ; 
situation of, 184. 

Acha, the village of, 189, 

Aleman, Juan, 193, 

Aguascalientes, the province of, 
221, 

Arellano starts to search for Co- 
ronado, 226. 

Acochis, country of, 226. 

Accident to Coronado, 228. 

Arms of Indians on Rio del Norte', • 
248. 

Amies, province of, 252, 

Acoma, town of, 252 ; situation of, 
252, fate of priests at, 304 ; Var- 
gas arrives at, 359, 

Acomillo, 313, 

Ave Maria sounded upon the 
trumpet at Isleta, 316, 

Alameda, 318. 

Aguatubi, Vargas arrives at, 365 ; 
situation of, 365. 

Apaches, deputation of, wait on 
Vargas, 353 ; Nabajo, alarm 
Zuiii Indians, 363 ; Saline, visit 
Spanish camp, 364 ; steal Var- 
gas's horses, 372 ; invited to join 
Pueblo Indians, 375 ; Farreon, 
visit Vargas, 396. 

Absolution at Aguatubi, 3G6, 

Assault of Santa Fe, 382. 

Almazan, corporal, drowned, 391. 



B. 



Barrameda, San Lucar de, the fleet 

sails from, 17. 
BoatSjNarvaez resolves to build,32. 



428 



INI>EX. 



Boat of Vaca, cast on shore, 41. 

" Bad-Tliiug," account of, 75. 

Bell of copner given to Dorantes, 
90, 

Blankets of cotton, 100. 

Beautiful country, 108. 

Bigotes, 176 ; restored to liberty, 
201. 

Buffaloes, first discovered, 180 ; 
iaimense herds of, 20G ; fright- 
ened at Spaniards, 208 ; meat of, 
how prepared by Indians, 219 ; 
great numbers of, 260, 

Braba, village of, 225. 

"Neatsleather," boots and shoes 
made of, 247. 

Bodies of friars found by Espejo, 
249. 

Battle between Indians, 274. 

Baca, Alonzo, 283. 

Bua, Nicholas, killed by Pope, 289. 

Blind woman at Alameda, 321. 

Beans and corn burnt, 324. 

Black mountains, 371. 



Cape Santa Cruz, the fleet anives 
at, 19. 

Caravallo, fleet placed in command 
of, 22. 

Castillo, captain, accompanies Va- 
ca to search for the sea, 30, 

Cacique made prisoner, 36. 

Crew of Yaca's boat becomes in- 
sensible, 40. 

Charrucos, Vaea remains with, 57. 

Children killed at birth, 65. 

Castillo escapes inland, 65. 

Cattle mentioned, 67, 

Camones kill Penaloso and Tellez, 
*). 

Condition of all the Indians, 76. 

Country, the appearance of, 88. 

Castillo searches for inhabitants, 
96. 

Cow nation, 97. 

Chacan fruit, 98. 

Certificate given to Vaca and com- 
panions, 107. 

Compostella, Vaca arrives at, 109 ; 
army to assemble at, 143. 



Culiacan, army reaches. 111 ; 
province of, 145. 

Cortez, Hernan, returns to Mexico, 
112. 

Cibola, 110; army marches for, 111;^ 

^ account of, by Stephen, 120; ad- 

* ditional information of, 122.; how 
houses built in, 127 ; Niza ar- 
rives in sight of, 137 ; army 
raised for conquest of, 142 ; Co- 
ronado approaches, 154 ; as seen 
by Coronado, 155r; attacked and 
taken, 156; situation of, 1(>7. 

Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, go- 
vernor of New Spain, 112; re- 
pairs to Culiacan, 113 ; Niza 
relates his adventures, to, 141 ; 
appointed captain-general, 142 ; 
starts in advance for Cibola, 150 ; 
enters the great desert, 154 ; 
comes within sight of Cibola, 
155 ; makes peace with Cibola, 
169 ; sends runners to other na- 
tions, 170; messenger from Al^ 
varada to, arrives, 1 80 ; visits 
Tutahaco on his way to Tiguex. 
180 ; arrives at Tiguex, 181 ; his 
interview with the " Turk," 182 ; 
goes to Cicuye in advance of 
army, 198 ; praaares to start for 
Quivira, 212 ; amves there, 213; 
kills the "Turlv," 217; alarm 
felt for, 226 ; rejoins army, 226 ; 
occupied himself during winter, 
how, 227 ; meets with an acci- 
dent, 228 ; soldiers petition him 
to return to Mexico, 229 ; orders 
arqay to retm-n, 230 ; reaches 
the city- of Mexico, 233 ; falls in- 
to disgrace, 233. 

Crosses to be sent back by Stephen, 
118. 

Cow-hides given to Niza, 123. 

Crosses set up, 124. 

"Casconados," 125. 

Cattle and sheep driven along with 
army, 144. 

Cliiametla, army halts at, 147. 

Chichilticale. 151 ; how named, 
166. • 

California, gulf of, expedition to> 
156. 



IXDEX. 



42J) 



Cascade, the, 175. 

Combat vf'Uh. Tiguex Indians, 19-1. 

Chia, the village of, 20i' : the prov- 
ince of, 221. 

Councilofwar, 212; 220. 

Clcuye, deputation from, 176; Al- 
varado marches for, 177 ; town 
of, 170 ; situation of, 193 ; vil- 
lages in province of, 200 ; army 
arrives at, 20-1 ; river of, 205. 

Cona, 211 : army reaches river of, 
on return, 22o ; ascend river of, 
224 ; fight at, by Arellano, 22(>. 

Cardenas, Lopez de, sent to Ti- 
gues, ISO ; besieges a vDlage, 
191; massacres prisoners, 192; 
assaulted by Indians, 19-t ; con- 
duct of, at Tiguex, 19G ; returns 
to Spain, 227 ; finds Indians at 
Suya in revolt, 230. 

Conchos Indians, 241. 

Cross, the mj^stery of, taught the 
Indians by the friars, 242. 

Children blessed by friai-s, 244. 

Cicique, commands of, how exe- 
cuted, 248. 

Cunames, province of, 251. 

Christian ludians found at Zuiii, 
by Espejo, 253. 

Corn meal sprinkled under the 
horses' feet, 250. 

Chapels dedicated to the devil, 248. 

Cotton bolls given to Espejo, 249. 

Cannibal lakes, 276. 

Chichimeca troops, 2G9. 

Colonists organize settlement, 269. 

Cadaudachos, river of, 277. 

Cochina dance prohibited, 230. 

Concha, general, 232. 

Clemente, Estevan, 234, 

Caidit, 288. 

Catite', 289 ; his fate, 306 ; brother 
of, 330. 

Conspiracy, by Jemez and Apache 
Indians, 282 , discovered, 283 ; 
in time of Viilanueva, 233 ; 
crushed, 284 ; by Estevan Cle- 
mente, 284 ; cause of rebellion, 
286. 

Cupavo, Louis, how disposed of, 
306. 

Casas Grandcs, 308. 



Cenecu, destruction of, 311. 

Children baptised, 317. 

Cause of rebellion investigated, 333. 

Corvera, Francisco, baptised Indi- 
ans at San Juan, 342. 

Cia, what took place at, 353. 

Citizens and prisoners sent to EI 
Paso by Vargas, 355. 

Church ornaments discovered, 361. 

Conduct of Moqui ludians when 
Varsras approaches, 367. 

Cabeson, 371. 

Cia, di?sention among inhabitants 
of, 375. 

Cristobal, captain, sent to trade 
with ludians for corn, 376. 

Cochiti, the pueblo of, 329 ; at- 
tacked by Indians, 394. 

Caliente, the Ojo, 407. 

Cieneguilla, La, 408. 

Cubero, Don Pedro Rodriquez,4 14. 



D. 



Don Pedro, killed by an Indian, 28. 

Dorantes, Andres, accompanies 
Vaca to search for the sea, 30. 

Distance marched, 33. 

Direction of route, 86. 

Dress of women, 101. 

Dias, Melchor, visits Vaca, 108 ; re- 
turns with Sandoval to Chiamet- 
la, 147 ; commands new settle- 
ment, 157 ; searches for coast, 
159; death of, 162. 

Death of Tejos Indian, 112. 

Desert, Niza arrives at, 116. 

Dogs tiansport Indian baggage, 
206. 

Distance marched on the plains, 
218. 

Devil, the, oratories erected for, 
248. 

Deerskins sent to aU the pueblos, 
287. 

Desert passed, 310. 

Don Louis appointed governor of 
Santa Fe' puebloes, 347 ; alarmed 
at threats of Indians, 377 ; goes 
on a mission to Santa Fe, 377. 

"Diabolical Questions'' asked by 
Indians, 365. 



430 



INDEX. 



E. 



Enmquez, Alonzo, lauds ou an 
island, 20. 

Embarcation, order of, 34. 

Esquivel and companions, fate of, 
64. 

Estevanico escapes inland, G5 ; re- 
turns with Indians, y(J. 

Emeralds given to Vaca, 100. 

Expedition to Cibola abandoned, 
112. 

Expedition to coast returns, 121. 

El Nuevo Reyno de San Francis- 
co, 138. 

Espcjo, Antonio de, offers to res- 
cue the friars, 239 ; marches 
for New Jlexico, 240 ; sends 
messengers to fugitives, 242 ; 
goes up to Indians in the moun- 
tains, 243 ; welcomed by them, 
244 ; comes to ten towns on Kio 
del Norte, 247; enters the Teguas 
nation, and liuds the bodies of 
the fxiars, 249 ; continues his 
journey, 250 ; reaches Acoma, 
2.'i2 ; arrives at Zuni, or Cibola, 
253; hears of a country rich 
in precious metals, 253 ; starts 
West from Zuni, 255; conciliates 
the Indians by presents, 25(5 ; 
marches Westward from Zagua- 
to, 257 ; reaches mines, 258 ; 
returns to Zuni, 258 ; leaves Zuiai 
for the North-east, 259 ; arrives 
among Tanos Indians, 250 ; re- 
turns to ISIexico, 260. 

Encansaque, the, 273. 

Expedition to New Mexico project- 
ed by the king but is abandoned, 
276. 

El Teguayo, 277. 

El Jornada del Muerta, 309, 



F. 



Fleet arrives at San Domingo, 18 ; 
men desert from, 18 ; two vessels 
of, wrecked, 19; sails for Flori- 
da, 19 ; to follow coast of, 22. 

Fatal sickness among Indians, 48. 

Figueroa, 76. 

Flour of Mezquiquez, 81. 



Fixed habitations, 87. 

Fruit of the country, 91. 

Friars, the, refuse to return with 
soldiers, 236 ; establish them- 
selv-es at Puara, 237 ; killed by 
Indians, 237 ; names of, who ac- 
companied Oiiate, 267. 

Fish given by Indians to Spaniards 
to eat, 245. 

Forests of poplar and walnut trees, 
246. 

Flemish miners, 272 ; their machi- 
nery described by settlers, 272. 

First mission established, 277. 

Fray Cristoval, 310. 

Father Ayeta preached to Indians, 
317. 

Fresh meat issued to troops, 325. 

Forces of Vargas united, 376. 

Forfau, Francisco, friar, 393. 

Famine, great, 413. 

Forfan, Antonio, 413. 



G. 



Governor, the, wounded, 36. 

Greek accompanies Indians for 
water, 37. 

Great river from the North, 93. 

Gold, traces of, 106. 

Guzman, governor, receives Vaca, 
109; colonizes Culiacan, 112; 
thrown into prison, 112. 

Great desert, 126. 

Gallcgo returns to Mexico, 157. 

Great River, the, 173 ; expedition 
to, 17 4. 

Gallos depa'pada, 187. 

Grapes, similar to the Muscat, dis- 
covered, 223. 

Glazed pottery, 225. 

Gallegos, Juan, meet with reiuT 
forcements, 232. 

Galisteo, the pueblo of, 236. 

Grapes, 258. 

Governor Frecenio waited upon by 
delegation of Indians, 285. 

Garrison, condition of, 295. 

Guerra, Antonio, sounds a parley, 
330. 

Gualpi, pueblo of, entered by Var- 
gas, 368. 

Geoije, Antonio, 410. 



IXDEX. 



431 



H. 



Hares killed by Indians, bow, 92. 

Heavy rains detain Spaniards, 104-. 

Houses of Cibola, 127. 

Hemes, 188. 

Haxa, village of, 205. 

Hail storm, 210. 

Houses, description of, 2 17. 

Horses, bow treated by Indians, 

249. 
Hubates, province of, 259. 
Humana enters New Mexico, 2G0 ; 

killed by Indians. 
Higb Mass celebrated, 317. 
Hurtado, Juan Paes, -ti;). 



Indians, tbe, desert tbeir huts, but 
return, 20 ; four are captured, 
21 ; two bundred encountered, 
23 ; a chief visits Spaniards, 24 ; 
attack Vaca at Apalache, 2G ; 
kill Don Pedro, 28 ; attack Nar- 
vaez while crossing a lake, 28 ; 
they kill Avellaneda, 29 ; desert 
Ante', 29 ; follow Narvaez to sea, 
38 ; give provisions to Span- 
iards, 43 ; take Spaniards to their 
buts, 46 ; fatal sickness breaks 
out among, 48 ; manners and 
customs of, 51 ; names of tribes, 
55 ; abuse Spaniards, 64 ; their 
strategy in war, 80 ; astonished 
at sight of Spaniards, 85 ; killed 
bares, bow, 92 ; sickness among, 
95 ; furnish food to Alcaraz, 107; 
provide for Niza. 126 ; kill Ste- 
phen, 135 ; kill Samaniego, 147; 
of great stature, and their cus- 
toms, 160; plot of, to massacre 
Dias and party, 161 ; badly treat- 
ed by Spaniards, 190 ; attack 
Spaniards, 191; massacred, 192; 
refuse to treat, 193 ; assault Car- 
denas, 194; deputation of, ar- 
rives from Cibola, 203 ; pleased 
at restoration of Bigotes, 204 ; 
of tbe plains, 219 ; kill friar Ma- 
ria, 237 ; kill Ruiz, 238 ; num- 
ber of, converted and baptised, 
238 ; attack Espejo, 243 ; Luma- 



Indians — 
nos, have a faint idea of God, 
244; give Spaniards large fish 
to eat, 245 ; tbeir treatment of 
horses, 249 ; fled to the moun- 
tains from Espejo, 249 ; idols 
worshipped by, 250 ; warn Es- 
pejo not to approach their towns, 
256 ; how they dress, 259 ; kind- 
ness of, to Oiiate, 269 ; two boys 
taken to Spain, 276 ; number of 
baptised, 277 ; their treatment 
by Spaniards, 279 ; become dis- 
coutended, 281 ; sent to steal 
horses of Spaniards, 283 ; accus- 
ed of bewitching friar Duran, 285; 
bow intelligence communicated 
among, 287 ; three figures of, 
288 ; commence to slaughter the 
Spaniards, 290 ; refuse proposi- 
tions of Otermin, 293 ; besiege 
Santa Fe, 295 ; retire to tbe 
mountains, 296; watch the Span- 
iards evacuate, 297 ; coaduct of, 
at Santa Fe, 299 ; number killed, 
300 ; abolished the Christian re- 
ligion, 306 ; traces of, 311 ; offer 
resistance atlsleta, 315 ; perish- 
ing in the mountains, 319 ; attack 
Otermin's camp, 322 ; set fire to 
Sandia, 324 ; threaten to attack 
Mendoza, 330; motives for mak- 
ing peace, 331 ; unite to defend 
Santa Fe, 339 ; difficulty be- 
tween, settled by Vargas, 344; 
welcome Vargas to Cia, 351 ; 
receive the Spaniards at Jemez, 
how, 352 ; flee from Moqui pu- 
eblos, 363 ; of Gualpi lay down 
their arms, 368 ; scarcity of pro- 
visions among, 375; refuse to 
furnish corn to Spaniards, 379 ; 
resolve to defend Santa Fe', 381; 
surrender Santa Fe, 384; killed, 
at Santa Fe, 385 ; defeat Vargas 
at San Yldefonso, 388 ; deputa- 
tion of, from Cia and Santa Ana^ 
visits Vargas, 389; surprise Var- 
gas, 391 ; attack Santa Fe, but 
are driven off, 394 ; ready to 
commence hostilities, 397 ; again 
hostile, 400 ; Rebel, visit Vargas^ 
402 ; make signal fires, 403. 



432 



INDEX. 



Island, Vaca's boat cast nprtu, 41. 

Indications of other Spaniards 
seen, 105. 

India tigs, I'jS. 

Indian wonaau escapes, 22 i. 

Intellio;ence communicated, how, 
288." 

Instructions of Pope to Indians, 
303. 

Isleta, Otermiu falls back upon, 
335 ; village of, burnt, 335 ; Var- 
gas finds it in ruins, 35(J. 

Interval of peace, 392. 



Jaca, 289. 

Jemez, fate of priest, at, 303 ; situ- 
ation of, 352 ; pueblo of, burned, 
410 ; treaty made with, 412. 

Javier, Francisco, 308. 

Jiron, captain Rafael Teyes, 3G4. 

Jongopabi, the pueblo of, 3G9. 

Jesus, friar Juan de, remains of, 
found, 412. 

L. 

La Baya de los Caballos, 34. 

Lisbon, Vaca arrives at, 109. 

"Little beasts," 12G. 

Los Corazones, town of, 15G. 

Letters from Alarcon found, IGO. 

Loss of Indians at Tiguex, lyG. 

Lopez, Diego, sent to search for 
Haxa; 207 ; gets lost, 207 ; Fran- 
cisco, 235 ; killed by Indians, 
237. 

Lakes, Salt, 223. 

Lumanos, the province of, 242. 

Latitude taken, 251. 

Leiva killed by Humana, .261 

La Canada attacked and destroyed, 
291. 

Louis of Picoris, 342. 

List of prisoners sent to El Paso, 
356. 

Lands assigned to soldiers, 392. 

M. 

Malhado, island of, 50. 
Medicine, Spaniards practice, 5;5. 



Meeting between Yaca and Do- 
rantes, 60. 

Mariane Indians, 65. 

Maliaconies, 76. 

Manners and customs of Indians, 
78. 

Mezquiquez, flour of, 84. 

Maize discovered, 98. 

Mexico. Vaca departs for, 109. 

Marata, 122. 

March of army. 14G. 

Maldonado searches for gulf of Ca- 
lifornia, 156. 

Melons, how preserved, 164. 

Messenger sent to Coronado, 180. 

Maldonado, Don Rodrigo, starts to 
explore Quivira, 209. 

Missionaries left at Tiguex, 231 ; 
their fate ; Maria, Santa, Juan 
de, 235 ; returns to New Spain, 
237. 

Mexican Indians remain at Cibola, 
232. 

Mines of gold and silver found by 
Espejo, 241. 

Macanas, the, 248. 

Mines reached by Espejo, 258. 

March of Onate, 268. 

Metals found in New Mexico, 271. 

Missions established, 276. 

Morador, friar Jesus, cruel fate of, 
303. 

Mendoza sent on reconnoissance, 
318 ; arrived at Alameda, 321 ; 
advises Otermin to establish a 
camp at Puara, 322 ; brings in 
prisoners, 325 ; marches to San 
Felipe and Santo Domingo, 328; 
Indians threaten to attack him, 
331 ; invites Indians to come in 
and arrange peace, 331 ; rejoins 
Otermin, 332. 

Mateo, a chief, embraces Vargas, 
359. 

Miguel appointed governor of 
Aguatubi, 366 ; Monsonabi, pu- 
eblo of, 368 ; march of, to El 
Paso, 372. 

Madrid, Roque, farm of, 377 ; exe- 
cutes prisoners, 384 ; commands 
troops, 392. 



INDEX. 



N. 



Narvacz sails from BaiTanieda, 1 7 ; 
arrives at San Domingo, 18 ; 
winters with the fleet at Trini- 
dad, 10 ; sails for Florida, 19 ; 
lauds upon the coast, 20; march- 
es into the interioi", 23 j takes 
Apalache, 20 ; arrives at Ante, 
2'J ; returns to the coast, 31 ; re- 
solves to build boats to escape 
by sea, 32 ; visits hut of cacique, 
'dCi ; asks Indians tor water, 37 ; 
consults with Vaca, 40 ; his fate, 
G3. 

Nail of horse shoe discovered, 104, 

New Mexico, earliest information 
of, 110; climate of, 2(J9 ; first 
pueblo of, 310 ; metals found in, 
271. 

Niza, Marcos de, starts for Cibola, 
113 ; how treated by Indians, 
11 G; hears of large cities, 117; 
sent parties to sea-coast, 118 ; 
leaves Vacupa, 1 22 ; hears more 
of Cibola, 122; visited by lord of a 
village, 125 ; arrives at great des- 
ert, 12G; receives messages from 
Stephen, 130 ; enters the great 
desert, 131 ; hears of Stephen's 
death, 131 ; greatly alarmed, 
13G ; arrives in sight of Cibola, 
and its situation, 137 ; takes pos- 
session, 138 ; returns toward 
New Galicia, 139 ; airives at 
Compostella, 140 ; taken to 
Mexico, 141 ; relates his adven- 
tures to viceroy, 142 ; returns to 
Mexico, 157. 

Nacapan, province of, 158. 

Naranjo, Diego Martinez, killed, 
282, 

O. 

Ovieda, Lope de, ascends a tree, 
42 ; reconnoitres the island, 43 ; 
bis fate, 59, 

Other Spaniards heard of, 104. 

Oxitipar, the valley of. 110. 

Oronato left behind, 11 G. 

Officers for the army appointed, 
143 ; sent out to collect provi- 
sions, 224, 
29 



Officer, an, assaults an Indian wo- 
man, 190, 

Obando, Francisco de, captured 
and killed by Indians, 19G. 

Order of Franciscans alarmed about 
friars, 239, 

Oratories erected for the devil, 248. 

Ofiate, Juan de, proposes to plant 
colonies in New Mexico, 2G3; 
the remuneration demanded, 
2G5 ; his petition granted, 2GG ; 
marches from the city of Mexi- 
co, 2G7 ; enters New Mexico and 
forms a settlement, 2G8 ; his ac- 
count of the Indians, 270 ; sets 
out for Quivira, 273 ; takes In- 
dian boys to Mexico, 275. 

Otermin, governor, prepares to re- 
sist Indians, 290 ; fortifies Santa 
Fe, 291 ; parleys with rebels, 
292 ; attacks and drives Indians 
from their works, 20G ; retreats 
to San Lorenzo, 298 ; ordered to 
re-conquer New Mexico, 307 ; 
continues the march, 308 ; re- 
connoitres the country and visits 
Socorro, 311 ; goes in advance 
to Isleta, 314 ; sends two runners 
up the river, 31 G ; pardons Indi- 
ans, 317 ; marches to join Men- 
doza, 322 ; burns Alameda, 323; 
marches in advance to Sandia, 
324 ; organizes tribunal to ex- 
amine prisoners, 325; calls coun- 
cil of war, 334 ; marches for El 
Paso, 335. 



Penalosa placed in ambush, 3G ; 

joined by Vaca, 40 ; killed, G9, 
Panuco, what happened to party 

in search of, G3. 
Pantoja killed by Soto Mayor, G4. 
Pillage, custom of, 87; ceases, 92, 
People of fixed habitations, 9G. 
Powder of straw, 100, 
Pintados, 121, 
Populous valley, 127. 
Pacasas, the, 14G. 
Plot of Indians, how discoverot?, 

IGl. 
Poisoned arrows, 1G3, 



434 



INDEX. 



Petatlan, province of, 1C3. 

Pitiliaya, wine of, 1 (14. 

Peace made with Cibola, ICO. 

Padilla, Juan de, 171. 

Peace, how made by Indians, 178. 

Pobarcs, Francisco dc, killed, I'JG. 

Prediction of mathematician, 220. 

Puara, pueblo of, reached by liuiz, 
23.5 ; the village of, 31 8 ; burnt 
by Indians, 328. 

Passaguate Indians, 241. 

Peralto, Don Pedro de, 272, 

Pluma, 273. 

Plans of Indians discovered, 2S3. 

Pope waits on governor Frecenio, 
285 ; rouses up the Indians to 
rebellion, 288 ; advised by super- 
natural Indians, 288 ; kills his 
son-iu-law, 289 ; makes a tour 
of the province, 301 ; enters Cia, 
how, 302 ; his speech, 303. 

Palm-leaf rope, 288. 

Priests at Moqui stoned to death, 
305. 

Procurador, the, put to death, 305. 

Paredes, the earl of, 307. 

Provisions, scarcity of, 318. 

Peace concluded with Indians,330. 

Pupiste, a Cia Indian, 331. 

Plan to cut oflF Mendoza, 333. 

Pueblos of Santa Fo submit, 340. 

Pacheo, Pedro, a Taos chief, 345. 

Puerco, the river of, 35(>. 

Paso del Norte, El, Spaniards re- 
treat to, 335 ; prisoners, &c., 
sent to, 355 ; disabled soldiers 
sent to, 364 ; Vargas arrives at, 
from Zuni, 372. 

Pecos, Vargas marches for, 348 ; 
how received at, 349 ; governor 
of, sends for his warriors, 382. 

Palace at Santa Fe' occupied by 
town council, 379. 

Priests absolve Vargas's anny, 882. 

Prisoners taken at Santa Fe, 384. 

Provisions begin to fall, 385. 

Property captured at San Yldefon- 
so, 390. 

Prisoners liberated, 395. 

Picoris visited by Vargas, 401. 

Pacheco, 402. 

Peace between Spaniards and In- 
dians, 412. 



Q- 



Quevene Indians, 59, 

Quevara, Don Diego de, 197. 

{Juirix, province of, 200. 

(Juerechos, the, 205. 

(Juivira, Sopete's account of, 208 ; 
Coronado arrives at, 2 1 4 ; village 
and province of, 215 ; visited by 
Portuguese, mouk and negro, 
and their fate, 215 and 21C. 

Quirix, province of, 221. 

Queres Indians visited by Espejo, 
251 ; receive Vargas, 350. 

Quivira Indians carry off prisoners, 
274. 

R. 

Resume practice of medicine, 71. 

River Petutan, 106. 

Reflections of Coronado, 154. 

Rio Vermejo, 154. 

Rogues, valley of the, 103, 

River of Tizon, descent to, 174. 

River of Cicuyc frozen, 208 ; 
bridged, 205 ; sinks into the 
ground, 225. 

Reinforcements arrive, 227. 

Revolt at Suya, 228. 

Ruiz, Augustin, 234 ; receives per- 
mission to enter New Mexico as 
a missionary, 235; arrives among 
the Teguas Indians, 235; reaches 
Galisteo, 236 ; removes to the 
pueblo of Santiago, 238 ; killed 
by Indians, 238. 

Rio del Norte', Espejo travels along 
the, 243. 

River of Oxen, 260. 

River, the Chama, 268. 

Rebellion, first attempt of Indiana 
at, 281 ; cause of, 282 ; second 
attempt at, 282 ; third attempt 
at, 284 ; first attempt to unite all 
the pueblos in, 287 ; cause of, 
286 ; time of, fixed, 290 ; plan 
of, betrayed, 290; cause of, in- 
vestigated, 338; attempt at, in 
1696, 344, 

Red ochre mountain, 364. 

Red ochre mines, the, 369. 

Rumored conspiracy among Indi- 
ans, 379. 



INDKX. 



435 



s. 



Sau Domingo, the fleet arrives at, 
18. 

Subsist, how, while building boats, 
33. 

San Miguel, strait of, 35. 

Spanish settlements of Panuco, 
men sent in search of, 48. 

Survivors of expedition, G-t. 

Sickness among Indians, Do. 

Spaniards, the, embark, 3-i; land 
on an island and are attacked by 
Indians, 3G ; re-embark, 37 ; vis- 
ited by Indians in canoes, 38 ; 
condition of, -15 ; taken to Indi- 
an huts, -IG ; escape by sea cut 
oif, 47 ; practice medicine, 53 ; 
number of, alive, 5G ; cross to 
mainland, 5G; attempt to escape, 
pG ; treatment of, by Indians, 
64 ; survivors of, united, G9 ; 
spend the winter with Avavares, 
70; cure the sick, 71 ; wonder- 
ful success as physicians, 74 ; 
well treated by all the tribes, 76; 
occupation among Indians, 77 ; 
arrive at a village of huts, 78 ; 
cross a large and rapid river, 85 ; 
cross a mountain range, 90 ; 
presents of pearls and antimony 
given to, 90 ; Indians stand in 
fear of, 93 ; travel toward setting 
sun, 94 ; arrive among people of 
fixed habitations, 96 ; travel up 
a great river, 99 ; bless infants, 
101 ; teach Indians about God, 
102 ; detained by rain, 104 ; find 
towns deserted, 105 ; believe ac- 
count of Tejos Indian, 111 ; car- 
ry otf Indians, 116 ; repulsed at 
Tiguex, 195 ; besiege Tiguex, 
195 ; march from Cicuye, li04 ; 
enter a mountainous country, 
205 ; reach the great plains, 208 ; 
kill many bufl'aioes, 218 ; receive 
presents from Indians, 245 ; con- 
tinue the march along great river 
to the North, 24G ; precious met- 
als exhibited to, by the Indians, 
252 ; how welcomed by Indians, 
256 ; prepare to leave Zurd, 259; 
tsearch for the precious metals, 



Spaniards — 
271 ; treatment of Indians, 279; 
make sortie against Indians, 
294 ; resolve to evacuate Santa 
Fc, 296 ; retreat to San Lorenzo, 
298 ; encounter severe storm, 

323 ; crossed the Rio del Norte, 

324 ; burn Sandia, 325 ; attacked 
by Indians, 339 ; assault pueblo 
of Taos, 342 ; Indians try to pro- 
voke, 365 ; march to Jongopabi, 
369 ; encamp at the Moro, 371 ; 
encamp on a hill outside of San- 
ta Fe, 379 ; put Indians to rout, 
395 ; engaged in planting, 400. 

Seven Cities, the country of the, 
110; how reached. Ill ; further 
information of, 113 ; Niza takes 
possession of, 138. 

Stephen sent in advance, 118 ; 
hears of Cibola, 119 ; sends mes- 
sengers to Niza, 130 ; method of 
travel, 133 ; sends messengers 
to Cibola, 133 ; how received at 
Cibola, 134; is put to death, 135. 

Shields of cow hides, 121. 

Strange beasts, 129. 

Strength of army, 144. 

Sarmaniego, Lope de, kiUcd by 
Indians, 147. 

Saaveard governs New Galecia, 
150. 

Snow storm, 159. 

Savage, how disposed of, 161. 

Sonora, province of, 163. 

Suya, valley of, 164 ; town of, 
sacked by Indians, 231. 

Soldiers in want of clothing, 189 ; 
skins distributed among, 209 ; 
lost on plains, 218; opposed to 
returning to Mexico, 229 ; revolt 
at Suya, 230 ; one devoured by 
sharks, 233 ; desert Ruiz, 236 ; 
arrive at home, 239 ; return to 
New Biscay, 259 ; desert the 
colonists, 269. 

Saldibar, Don Juan de, 197. 

Stone balls, 200. 

Silos, village of, 200, 

Saint Bartholomew, the valley of, 
235 ; Espejo arrives in, 260. 

Sauches escapes, 261 ; settlement 
of Oiiate, 268. 



436 



INDEX. 



Salmaron, friar, 277 ; bis journal, 
278. 

Supernatural agencies, 288. 

Secrecy enjoined, 288. 

Santa Fe, iortified, 291 ; rebels ap- 
proacb, 292 ; attack of, repulsed, 
2'JG; evacuated, 207; taken pos- 
session ot by Indians, 299; inhab- 
itants follow Otemiin, 308 ; re- 
taken by Vargas, S39 ; Indians 
baptised at, o-iO ; Indians of, op- 
pose Spaniards, 375 ; taken by 
Vargas, 378 ; palace occupied by 
town council, 379 ; Vargas as- 
saults, 381 ; captured, 381: ; fate 
of women and children, SSi ; 
Indians of, killed, 385 ; attacked 
by Indians, S>'Ji. 

Scouts sent to Galisteo, 292. 

San Lorenzo, the Spaniards winter 
at, 298; Christians, number of, 
who fell in rebellion, 300. 

Socorro, 312. 

Sebollita, 313., 

Sorcerer, captured, 318. 

Sandia, pueblo of, 318. 

Storm of sleet and rain, 320. 

San Felipe, pueblo of, 328. 

Spies captured, 332. 

Saia Juan, Vargas arrives at, 311. 

Santo Domingo, Vai-gas meet 
troops at. 319. 

Suffering of emigrants, 37-i. 

San Yldefonso, Indians defeated 
at, 399. 

Settlers arrive at Santa FJ, 400. 

San Gabriel. 407. 



Troops, number of, when march 

inland, 22. 
Theodoro makes rosin, 33. 
Tellez joined by Vaca, 40 ; killed 

by Indians, G9. 
Tea made by Indians, 82. 
Tribes enumerated, 82. 
Town of Hearts, 103. 
Tojos, Indian ot, 110. 
Totouteal, 122. 
Turquoises, 124. 
Tabus, 145. 
Trnxillo and bis vision, 150. 



Town of Los Corazoncs founded, 

im. 

Tall Indian, 157. 

Tame eagles foftnd in houses, 1G4, 

Tusayan, expedition to, 171 ; ar- 
rive in sight of, 1 72 ; taken, 173. 

Tizon, river of, 175, 

Tutahaco, tov*"n of, 180. 

Tiguex, town of, 179 ; description 
of, 180 ; contribution levied on, 
189 ; Spaniards march for, 195 ; 
assault and are repulsed, 195; 
besieged, 195;. fate of inhabi- 
tants. 197 ; army marches from, 
for New Spain, 231. 

"Turk," the, 179; converses with 
the devil, 203 ; his fate, 217. 

Teyas, province of, 200. 

Tobar, Don Pedro de, letter sent 
to, by Indians, 203 ; aiuives with 
reinforcements, 227; quells dis- 
turbance, 1G2. * 

Teyaus furnish guides to* Quivira, 
213. 

Troops disappointed, 22G. 

Tciiuas Indians, 235 ; they kill 
Ruiz, 235. 

Tobosos, province of, 241. 

Tubiau Indians, 258. 

Tancs, the, 259. 

Tilim, 288. 

Tlesime, 288. 

Tacu, 289. 

Tupata, Louis, threatens Isleta, 
335. 

Taos, assaulted by Spaniards, 342; 
inhabitants of, return, 344 ; de- 
serted by Indians, 402; sacked 
by Spaniards, 403. 

Tesuque, visited by Vargas, 392, 

U. 

Utah Indians attack Vargas, 405, 

V. 

Vaca, Alvar Nuiiez Cabeza de, an 
ollicer of the fleet of Narvaez, 
1 7 ; vessel wrecked at Trinidad, 
19 ; accompanies Narvaez in- 
land, 21^ opposes Narvaez's 
plans, 22 ; sent to search for the 



INDEX. 



437 



Vaca — 
sea, 21 ; enters Apalachc, 20 ; 
discovers a cape, 88 ; his boat 
only one in sight, 39 ; boat 
wrecked, 41 ; wrecked third 
time, 44 ; meets with crew of 
Dorautes and Castillo's boat, 4(1 ; 
winters with Indians, 48 ; too 
siclv to attempt escape, 5G ; life 
among Indians, 58 ; starts to 
escape, 59; slave to Marianes, 
Gl ; escapes with Dorautes, Cas- 
tillo and Estevanico, GI) ; lost in 
the wood, 71 ; effects a great 
cure, 73 ; joined by Castillo and 
Dorantes, 7G ; cures a wounded 
man, 9 1 ; shows his displeasure, 
94 ; is given emeralds, 100 ; be- 
comes alarmed, 105 ; overtakes 
four horsemen, lOG; arrives at 
San Miguel, 109 ; Maldonado 
comes to Indians visited by, 209. 

Viceroy, officers for army appoint- 
ed by, 143; arrives at Compos- 
tella, 144; accompanied army, 
145. 

Village given up to pillage, 193. 

Vapor baths, 225. 

Vaca and companions heard of, 
244. 

Veleuzuela, looks for a harbor, 24. 

VUlage surprised by Indians, 89. 

Vegetables, how cooked, 99. 

Vacupa, 118. 

Victorio, Antonio, accident to, 151, 

Volcanic region, 1G2. 

Valladolid, the province of, 221. 

Velasco, friar, 273. 

Vargas appointed to re-conquer 
New Mexico, 338 ; takes Santa 
Fe', 339 ; letter of, to viceroy, 
,"40; marches for Taos, 341 ; 
finds it abandoned, 342; marched 
for the mountains, 344; persuades 
the Indians of Taos to submit, 

344 ; hears of a new conspiracy, 

345 ; returns to Santa Fd, 345 ; 
appoints a governor for the San- 
ta F6 pueblos, 347 ; sends a force 
to Santo Domingo, and marches 
for Pecos, 348 ; marches for 
Santo Domingo, 349 ; meets the 
(Juercs Indians, 350; marches 



Vargas— 
for Cia, 351 ; arrives at Jcmcz, 
352 ; at Cia, 353 ; marches for 
Zuili 356 ; his negotiations at 
Acoma, 357 ; takes possession 
of Zaili, 300; leaves Zuhi for 
Jloqui, 3G4 ; arrives at Aguatu- 
bi, 305 ; stands sponsor, 300 ; 
enters pueblo of Gualpi, 308 ; 
meets his runner, Pedro, 308 ; 
leaves .Jongopabi to return to 
Zuui, 370 ; marches for El Paso, 
371 ; marc;hes a second time for 
New Mexico, 374 ; arrives at 
Isleta, 374 ; halts within fifteen 
miles of Santa Fe, 375 ; march 
of, for Santa Fd resumed, 370 ; 
(luiets the fears of Don Louis, 
377 ; encamps on farm of Rogue 
Madrid, 377 ; visited by deputa- 
tion of Indians, 378 ; enters San- 
ta Fd, 378 ; assaults Santa Fd, 
382 ; sends soldiers to Parral, 
3-85 ; marches to mesa of Sau 
Yldefonso, 380; obliged to re- 
turn to Santa Fd, 388 ; marches 
again for the mesa, 389 : defeats 
Indians, 390 ; surprised, 391 ; 
marches to Cochiti, 393 ; attack- 
ed by Indians, 394 ; defeats them, 
395 ; returns to Santa Fe, 395 ; 
visited by Farreou Apaches, 
396 ; again visits San Yldefonso, 
393 ; marches to Taos, 401 ; In- 
dian ambuscade, 404 ; attacked 
by the Utah Indians, 405 ; ar- 
rives at Santa Fd, 408 ; marches 
for the Queres nation, 408 ; cap- 
tures Jemez, 410 ; returns to 
Santa Fd, 412; charged with 
peculation, 414 ; removed from 
olfice, 414 ; re-appointed, 414. 

Vargas, Eusebio, 410. 

W. 

Water, supply of, taken in, 39. 

Women carry water, 89, 

Wild sheep, 158. 

Warfare between Spaniards and 

people of Tiguex, 189, 
Women and chikh-eu leave Tiguc^c 

during siege, 190. 



438 



INDEX. 



Wound by poisoned arrow, 233. 
Witchcraft, 284, 285. 
Wonderful account of four Cia In- 
dians, 305. 
AVater scaiice, 310. 
Warm spring, 312. 

X. 

Xagua, the fleet winters at, 19. 

Ximera, village of, 200. 

Xabe, Indian named, given to Co- 
ronado, 204 ; mortified that his 
predictions did not cgme trtye, 
22a. 



Yeguase Indians, account of, 05. 
Ynqueyunque, the province of, 
221. 



Zeburos accompanies Vaca, 108, 

Zaguato, village of, 257. 

Zuni, situation of, 107 ; fate pf 

priests at, 301. 
Zepe, 3'JO. 
Zama, 407. 



LB N '05 



